January, 2001: There were two separate burglaries at the Niger Embassy in Rome within a span of 30 days. La Repubblica, an Italian newspaper, reported that the embassy’s documents and files had been “put in disarray” and that “a watch of modest value and two women’s rings” were missing. As the investigation unfolds over the next 2 years, Italian investigators will theorize that the thieves who broke into the Niger Embassy had come looking for letterhead stationary and official seals that could be used to create bogus documents stating Iraq purchased yellowcake from Niger.

October 2001: A few months after the break-in, the Italian intelligence service (SISME) obtains documents that indicate Niger has sold Iraq uranium yellowcake. The documents are obvious forgeries. One of the documents is a formal agreement between Iraq and Niger that states Niger is to furnish uranium yellowcake to Iraq. The letter, dated October 10, 2000, was allegedly sent to the Niger embassy in Rome, but was received in Rome on September 28, 2000. Tip one the letter is fake. The letter is signed by the Niger Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ailele Elhadj Habibou, who had not been minister since 1989 (Hint number 2 the letter is fake). La Rebublicca reported there were a total of six letters in this package.

SISME shares the documents with the CIA. The CIA briefs Vice President Dick Cheney on intelligence that was provided by the Italians suggesting that Iraq is attempting to purchase uranium from Niger. Cheney asks about the implications of the report and is reportedly dissatisfied with the initial response (probably that they are forgeries). Cheney asks the CIA to take another look.

February 2002: Wilson is asked and accepts the mission to Niger to investigate the papers. Wilson travels to Niger with other Niger officials to learn the truth. Wilson finds no evidence of uranium purchase.

March 2002: Wilson reports to the CIA that it was “highly doubtful” the uranium transfer deal from Niger to Iraq took place.

October 2002: The CIA sends a four-page memo to Bush administration officials, including Stephen Hadley - Bush’s deputy national security adviser, Micheal Gerson - chief speechwriter, and Condasleeza Rice expressing doubt over claims that Iraq had attempted to obtain uranium from Niger.

January 23, 2003: Bush in his State of the Union Address utters the now infamous 16 Words, “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa”

July 6, 2003: Joe Wilson writes New York Times Op-Ed criticizing Bush’s remarks on Iraq yellowcake purchase in Niger as relying on forged documents. He states the CIA provided this intelligence to the White House prior to the State of the Union Address in January.

July 8, 2003: A friend informs Wilson that Robert Novak believes that his wife had something to do with Wilson’s appointment to investigate the Yellowcake claim in Africa.

July 8, 2003: Robert Novak called Karl Rove and discusses the subject of Ms. Wilson, identifying her by name. The confidential source this is from says that Rove does not remember whether he told Novak, or Novak told him of Plame’s identity as a covert CIA operative.

July 10, 2003: Novak contacts Wilson in an attempt to verify the information Rove has given him that his wife is a CIA operative. Wilson did not respond.

July 11, 2003 Novak’s article outing Valarie Plame as a CIA operative is sent out on the AP wire.

July 14, 2003: Novak outs Plaume to the general public in print via the Chigago Tribune.

July 21, 2003: Chris Matthews informs Wilson that Karl Rove considered his wife “fair game”.

July 22, 2003: Newsday reports that their intelligence sources confirmed that Plame was undercover until Novak outed her quoting Novak as saying: “I didn’t dig it out. It was given to me. They thought it was significant. They gave me the name, and I used it.”

July 24, 2003: The CIA reported “possible violations of criminal law” to the Attorney General John Ashcroft.

July 30, 2003: The CIA files a “crime report” with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), suggesting the leak of Wilson’s wife’s name and covert status might entail criminal acts. After some time, the DOJ finally investigates.

September 29, 2003: On CNN’s Crossfire, Novak explains, “Nobody in the Bush administration called me to leak this”.

News Producer, Andrea Owen asked Rove as he walked to his car, “Did you have any knowledge or did you leak the name of the CIA agent to the press?”, Rove replied, “No.” and shut the car door

In a media briefing when asked if Karl Rove was involved, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, “Well, I’ve made it very clear that it was a ridiculous suggestion in the first place. … I’ve said that it’s not true. … And I have spoken with Karl Rove.”

October 1, 2003: On the set of Face the Nation Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb) expressed “bewilderment” at Republicans who were spinning a possible high crime into a partisan attack. Hagel says, “(The President) has that main responsibility to see this through and see it through quickly, and that would include, if I was president, sitting down with my vice president and asking what he knows about it”

New Republican talking points try to imply the disclosure was made without knowledge that a covert operative was being exposed and therefore might not have been a crime. IMHO, ignorance of the law is no excuse.

October 3, 2004: The White House gives its staff until 5pm on Tuesday, October 7 to turn over documents, phone logs, etc. relating to the leak. White House counsel estimates that it will take two weeks to review the collection and turn it over to the DOJ

October 4, 2003: Novak contradicts his previous story and confirms that he knows Plame was working under official cover, at the same time outing the front company she and many others used as cover.

October 6, 2003: Newsweek reports that Chris Matthews of MSNBC’s “Hardball” was the journalist who called Mr. Wilson and said, “I just got off the phone with Karl Rove who said your wife is fair game.”

October 9, 2003: Senators Daschle, Levin, Biden and Schumer call for appointment of a special counsel, noting missteps of the DOJ and the Attorney General’s conflicts of interest in the matter.

October 15, 2003: The New York Times reports that senior criminal prosecutors and FBI officials criticized the Attorney General’s failure to reuse himself or appoint a special counsel because of his “long career with Republican partisan politics, he could not credibly lead a criminal investigation that centered on the aides to a Republican president.”

December 30, 2003: Attorney General Ashcroft FINALLY reuses himself from the leak investigation. James Comey, Deputy Attorney General, appoints Patrick Fitzgerald, a U.S. Attorney, as “special” counsel.

January 21, 2004: The federal grand jury begins hearing testimony.

January 22, 2004: Time magazine reports that special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald has begun presenting evidence to a grand jury and White House staff have been notified that they may be subpoenaed for their information. Sources say that some staff have been asked to meet informally with Fitzgerald to discuss offers of immunity in exchange for their knowledge.

February 10, 2004: It is confirmed that Ari Fleischer, Karl Rove, Scott McClellan, the President’s press secretary and Adam Levine, a former press aide, testify before the grand jury. Several members of the Vice President’s staff have also testified.

In addition to the grand jury proceedings, “prosecutors have conducted meetings with presidential aides that lawyers in the case described as tense and sometimes combative.” Finally, Fitzgerald is conducting these interviews in secret, asking the subjects to sign confidentially agreements, and often staff are refusing to do so.

It has been reported that these lawyers also say that the prosecutors have evidence confirming that White House officials were extremely upset with the Wilson article, and with the CIA for sending him to Africa.

June 2, 2004: President Bush meets with outside private attorney James Sharp, to advise him about the investigation. Because Republican Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr removed the attorney-client privilege for government lawyers and their clients in his prosecution of Bill Clinton, this is the likely reason Bush sought outside counsel instead of the White House Counsel’s Office.

June 3, 2004: CIA Director George Tenet resigns for “personal reasons”. His resignation announcement was a love fest between Bush and Tennent. We can now guess why.

June 4, 2004: Deputy Director for Operations CIA James Pavitt, in charge of spies according to the BBC News resigns, and says to have made the decision some weeks before.

June 5, 2004: The Washington Post gets confirmation that representatives of special prosecutor Fitzgerald have interviewed Vice President Dick Cheney.

June-July 2004: White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, President Bush, and Colin Powell testify before the federal grand jury investigating the leak.

October 14, 2004: Karl Rove testifies before a federal grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA operative’s identity by administration sources. Rove spent more than two hours testifying before the panel. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald questions Rove about his contacts with journalists what is believed to be his third appearance before the grand jury.

February 15, 2005: The Federal appeals court in Washington rules that Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper may have witnessed a federal crime (disclosure by government officials of a CIA officer’s identity), and would have to cooperate with the grand juries investigating the crime. The Court based that decision on 5 pages of grand jury testimony, redacted when released.

June 27, 2004: The courts refuse to hear reporters, Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper, appeal.

June 30, 2004: Time magazine hands over Cooper notes surrounding the leak case.

July 6, 2004: Around 7:30 in the morning, Matthew Cooper prepares to leave for court, resigned that he may end up in jail for refusing to reveal his source. Later that day Cooper then says to the press that he received the permission in “somewhat dramatic fashion” from his source that he has permission to reveal his identity. This whole scene is base on weasel words and boils down to Rove trying to imply that he is not the one Cooper is protecting.

July 11, 2004: Press briefing with McClellan, he was asked “Do you want to retract your statement that Rove, Karl Rove, was not involved in the Valerie Plame expose? “ McClellan sidestepped the questions ad nauseum stating he had no comment on an ongoing investigation (see the Daily Show excellent compilation of this topic).

July 13, 2004: Matthew Cooper testifies for 2.5 hours before the grand jury and confirms that his source on the leak was Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove.

And I’m sure this is not the end of it. These references were from various news sources from the internet, and From dKosopedia, the free political encyclopedia…specifically http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Plame_Leak_timeline.