She wasn't exactly lying.
She had nothing to do with him going to Niger.
He was going, (1999 and 2002), to Niger to handle affairs for his company.
She suggested to her bosses he do the 'spying' for them (her job) because he was accepted over there and not a spy, and he was going anyway.
Now, what does that company that Joe owns, do?
They brokered sales of yellowcake ore for the President of Niger. (They were working on a sale to Saddam. It had to be done through a third party. )
Joe was in the best position to find out if Saddam was trying to buy YO, because that's what Joe's company was selling.
They sold the ore to Libya, and Libya sold it to Saddam.
So, when he said Saddam wasn't buying it from Niger, he wasn't lying either.
The 'fake' documents of a sale came from collaboration between the Dems and French foreign agents as a means to hide the true facts. They made sure the documents were so obviously fake to ensure it would be discovered. When those documents were 'exposed' as fakes, the 'massage' was that no sales occurred if the documents were fake.
And everyone bought it.
Joe was the best person