Fact twisting alleged in U.S. Senate probe

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Former CIA operative Valerie Plame accused U.S. Senate Republicans of twisting the facts about the selection of her husband for a mission to Niger.

In an interview with USA Today to mark the Monday publication of her book, "Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House," Plame singled out three GOP members of the Senate Intelligence Committee for criticism.

She accused Sens. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas; Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; and Sen. Kit Bond,m R-Mo., of misstating her role in the CIA's choice of her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, to investigate reports that Iraq was trying to buy yellowcake uranium in Niger.

"They took a fairly straightforward thing and obscenely twisted it into a political version of events," Plame told USA Today.

Joseph Wilson's conclusion that the reports were false and his subsequent charge that the Bush administration ignored his findings led to his wife's employment at the CIA being disclosed in a newspaper column.

A spokeswoman for Bond told USA Today that CIA documents don't appear to support Plame's version of events.