A day or two days before January 28
Robert G. Joseph, director for nonproliferation at the National Security Council (NSC), telephones senior CIA official Alan Foley and argues that the Africa-uranium claim should be included in Bush's upcoming State of the Union address. When Foley warns that the allegation has little evidence to support it, Mr. Joseph instead requests that the speech include a remark saying that the British had learned that Iraq was seeking uranium in Africa, leaving out the bit about Niger and the exact quantity of uranium that was allegedly sought. [The Washington Post, 7/17/03; New York Times, 7/17/03; New York Times, 7/17/03; The Washington Post, 7/27/03; Time Magazine, 7/21/03 Sources: Alan Foley, Two unnamed senior administration officials interviewed by Time] Joseph claims he does not recall the discussion and White House communications director Dan Bartlett calls Foley's version of events a conspiracy theory. [The Washington Post, 7/27/03]
Here we are back to why the WH and Tenet abrubtly retracted the SOTU statement. And this is the same Foley that testified that Bolton wasn't fit for the UN post...and that is the same Bolton who allegedly visited Miller in jail.