That caught my eye, too. There was another story about interests Wilson had over in Niger---business interests...hmmmmmmm.
"The committee found Wilson had made an earlier trip to Niger in 1999 for the CIA, also at his wife's suggestion."
Interesting. You would have thought that at least one of the several reporters who have written on this subject would have run across this fact. My impression is that this information was known but purposely ignored.