Mid-October 2002: State Department Intelligence Official Questions Authenticity of Niger Documents

Wayne White, the deputy director of the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, receives a copy of the Niger documents. Within about fifteen minutes, White, who once served in Niger, suspects that the documents may not be authentic. In particular, he believes that the uranium deal would have been completely impractical. [Boston Globe, 11/5/2005; Isikoff and Corn, 2006, pp. 162]