CIA official says aide sought wording for Bush speech (Joseph)

[Nambe]

James Risen and David E. Sanger NYT

--- Senior intelligence officials said Thursday that in testimony before a closed-door Senate committee hearing Wednesday, Alan Foley, a CIA expert on weapons of mass destruction, said he had been asked by Bob Joseph, the director of proliferation at the National Security Council, whether the president's address could include a reference to Iraq's seeking uranium from Niger.

The officials said Foley's testimony indicated that he had told Joseph that the CIA was not certain about the credibility of the evidence concerning Niger and had recommended that it be taken out of the speech.

The officials also said Thursday that, according to Foley, Joseph then asked him if the speech could instead include a reference to British intelligence reports that Iraq was interested in seeking uranium from Africa. The government of Prime Minister Tony Blair had included that information in an unclassified white paper on Iraq and illegal weapons published in September.

Foley said he had told Joseph that the CIA had warned the British that it was not sure about the information when the paper was published, according to intelligence officials.

When Joseph ultimately asked Foley whether it would be accurate to state that the British had reported that Iraq was seeking uranium in Africa, Foley said it would be, according to his account, which the White House has said it could not confirm. However, Foley did not tell the Senate committee that he felt pressured by Joseph, officials familiar with his testimony said.

Foley's testimony about his conversations with Joseph closely tracks with the version of events described last week by other CIA officials, but it conflicts with the version provided by the White House. Officials have said that Joseph does not recall Foley raising any concerns about the credibility of the information to be included in the speech. ---

The new White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, immediately rebutted Durbin's statements.

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