Timeline of the Plame affair

Last updated

The Plame affair erupted in July 2003, when journalist Robert Novak revealed that Valerie Plame worked as covert employee of the Central Intelligence Agency, although the seeds of the scandal had been laid during 2001 and 2002 as the Bush administration investigated allegations that Iraq had purchased Nigerien uranium.

Contents

Between 2003 and 2007, Patrick Fitzgerald led a criminal investigation into allegations that the Bush administration had leaked Plame's identity as retribution against her husband, Joseph C. Wilson, who had publicly questioned the rationale for the Iraq War. In August 2006, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage revealed that he had been Novak's primary source for the leak.

By July 2007, when President George W. Bush commuted the prison sentence Scooter Libby had received for perjury and obstruction of justice during Fitzgerald's investigation of the leak, the scandal had largely come to a close. In April 2018, President Donald Trump fully pardoned Libby. [1]

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2001

2002

February 2002

Flow of Valerie Plame Information according to media reports Valerie Plame Flow of Information.png
Flow of Valerie Plame Information according to media reports

March 2002

September 2002

October 2002

December 2002

2003

January 2003

February 2003

March 2003

May 2003

June 2003

July 2003

The "Plame affair" becomes such during this month. The month opens with Wilson's op-ed describing his trip to Niger and suggesting the Iraqi nuclear threat had been exaggerated, followed within days by multiple Bush administration leaks or confirmations to reporters and the publishing of Wilson's wife's name, revealing that Valerie Plame worked for the C.I.A. despite the fact that she was then undercover. By mid-month the first stories emerge suggesting the Bush administration had leaked this information as retribution against Wilson.

August 2003

September 2003

October 2003

December 2003

2004

February 2004

May 2004

June 2004

July 2004

September 2004

Floyd Abrams represented Judith Miller Floyd Abrams in office by David Shankbone.jpg
Floyd Abrams represented Judith Miller

October 2004

2005

February 2005

March 2005

As evidence that it is likely that no crime had been committed, the news agencies voluntarily filed a friend of the court brief in which they state on page 5:

B. There is Ample Evidence On The Public Record To Cast Considerable Doubt That a Crime Has Been Committed. [Supporting facts and rationale are offered in subsequent pages.]

According to the news agencies, there was no need to compel these reporters to divulge their sources because it was unlikely that a crime had been committed.

June 2005

July 2005

August 2005

September 2005

October 2005

November 2005

2006

February 2006

June 2006

July 2006

August 2006

September 2006

2007

March 2007

June 2007

July 2007

2008

2016

2018

Notes

  1. 1 2 Totenberg, Nina (April 14, 2018). "President Trump Pardons 'Scooter' Libby, Former Cheney Chief Of Staff". NPR.
  2. IAEA report Archived 2007-08-12 at the Wayback Machine "The components of Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme"
  3. Iraq Survey Group "Iraq's Known Uranium Holdings"
  4. 1 2 "The Honorable Mr. Wilson". October 1, 2003. Archived from the original on 2003-12-04.
  5. "Iraq 'sought African uranium'". BBC News. 24 September 2002. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  6. 1 2 Helena Smith (29 October 2005). "The 'dumb blonde' who excelled as a spy". The Guardian . Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  7. Ross Kerber; Bryan Bender (10 October 2003). "Apparent CIA front didn't offer much cover". The Boston Globe . Archived from the original on 12 October 2003. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  8. Alan Cooperman (22 October 2007). "Valerie Plame, telling the (edited) inside story". The Washington Post . Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  9. "Plame's Input Is Cited on Niger Mission". The Washington Post. 10 July 2004. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  10. Joseph C. Wilson, The Politics of Truth 12, 424.
  11. Gourlay, Chris; Clavert, Jonathan; Lauria, Joe (2008-01-27). "Tip-off thwarted nuclear spy ring probe". London: The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  12. "Case No. 2009E-003" (PDF).
  13. "State Department Official Allegedly Tips Off Nuclear Smuggling Ring about CIA Front Company". History Commons . Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  14. Gellman, Barton (October 30, 2005). "A Leak, Then a Deluge: Did a Bush loyalist, trying to protect the case for war in Iraq, obstruct an investigation into who blew the cover of a covert CIA operative?". The Washington Post.
  15. John Pike. "Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community'S Prewar Intelligence Assessments On Iraq". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  16. 1 2 3 Richard Stevenson (16 July 2005). "State Dept. memo gets scrutiny in leak inquiry on C.I.A. officer". The New York Times . Retrieved 10 December 2013.
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  19. 1 2 Scott Shane (2005). "Ex-diplomat's surprise volley on Iraq drove White House into political warfare mode." The New York Times : 24 July.
  20. "esteri » "Pollari andò alla Casa Bianca per offrire la sua verità sull'Iraq"". Repubblica.it. 2005-10-25. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
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  22. "Hadley Meeting Not True". Archived from the original on December 16, 2005.
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  38. Robert Novak (1 August 2005). "Correcting the CIA". Townhall.com. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  39. Susan Schmidt (25 November 2004). "The when and how of leak being probed: timing of disclosure of CIA employee's name a factor in deciding if law was broken". The Washington Post . Retrieved 24 November 2013.
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  41. 1 2 Liptak, Adam (11 July 2005). "For Time Inc. reporter, a frenzied decision to testify". The New York Times . Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  42. "Statement by George J. Tenet". Archived from the original on July 14, 2003.
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  44. "Press Gaggle with Ari Fleischer". Georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  45. Pincus, Walter; Allen, Mike (12 October 2003). "Probe Focuses on Month Before Leak to Reporters". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  46. [outdated link]
  47. "A White House Smear". Thenation.com. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  48. "Freedom of Information Center at the Missouri School of Journalism". Archived from the original on October 8, 2003.
  49. "Robert Novak Breaks His Silence". Fox News. 13 July 2006.
  50. "Investigation? No, Bush should pick up the phone". Archived from the original on August 6, 2003.
  51. Mark A. R. Kleiman. "Joseph Wilson On Wolf Blitzer". Archived from the original on 2005-11-29.
  52. Novak, Robert D. (2008), The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington, New York: Three Rivers Press, p. 606
  53. "Press Briefing by Scott McClellan". Georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  54. Mike Allen; Dana Priest (28 September 2003). "Bush administration is focus of inquiry". The Washington Post . available at Truthout.
  55. Alex Johnson and Andrea Mitchell (26 September 2003). "CIA seeks probe of White House: agency asks Justice to investigate leak of employee’s identity." NBC News .
  56. "Press Briefing by Scott McClellan". White House Press Office. 29 September 2003. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  57. Ken Fireman (30 September 2003). "White House refuses request for prosecutor in leak inquiry". The Sun-Sentinel . Newsday . Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  58. Jonathan Silver (2003-09-29). "Columnist refuses to reveal source of Iraq report". Reuters. Archived from the original on October 2, 2003. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  59. ABC News Archived 2006-11-16 at the Wayback Machine .
  60. Clifford May (29 September 2003). "Spy games". National Review . Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  61. Eric Lichtblau and Richard W. Stevenson (30 September 2013). "Justice Dept. starts inquiry on leak of C.I.A officer's identity". The New York Times . Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  62. Linzer, Dafna (25 July 2005). "Bush aide learned early of leaks probe". The Washington Post . Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  63. "Alberto Gonzalez, Joe Biden, and Jan Crawford Greenburg" (PDF). Face the Nation . CBS News. 24 July 2005.
  64. Margaret Carlson (22 October 2005). "Rove not likely to survive inquiry". The Seattle Post-Intelligencer . Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  65. Maura Reynolds and Richard B. Schmitt (1 October 2003). "Bush says leak probe is job for Justice Dept". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  66. George W. Bush (30 September 2003). "President discusses job creation with business leaders". White House Press Office . Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  67. "The CIA leak"
  68. "Armitage On CIA Leak — 'I Screwed Up'", September 7, 2006, by CBS News, in an interview conducted by David Martin
  69. "Getting Personal". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2003-10-08.
  70. Elisabeth Bumiller (7 October 2003). "Bush toughens his support of investigation into leak." The New York Times.
  71. "Press Briefing by Scott McClellan". White House Press Office. 10 October 2003. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  72. "Bush welcomes probe of CIA leak". CNN. 29 September 2003. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  73. Adam Liptak and Peter T. Kilborn (23 May 2004). "2 journalists subpoenaed over source of disclosure". The New York Times . Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  74. "Bush says he will fire anyone who breaks law: president appears to qualify standard for firing in CIA-leak case". NBC News . Associated Press. 19 July 2005. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
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  76. "Bush Interviewed About CIA Leak". The Washington Post. 25 June 2004. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  77. Huband, Mark (2004). "European Intelligence Suggests Iraq Sought Uranium in Niger". Human Events.
  78. US Senate. "Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community's Prewar Intelligence Assessment on Iraq" (PDF). The Washington Post. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  79. "The Raw Story". The Raw Story. 2005-07-07. Archived from the original on 2012-08-12. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  80. Schmidt, Susan (16 September 2004). "Post Source Reveals Identity to Leak Probers". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  81. Liptak, Adam (16 February 2005). "Jailing of reporters in C.I.A. leak case is upheld by judges". The New York Times . Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  82. "Amici Brief" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-03-04.
  83. The link cited above is outdated; for a related Amicus Curiae brief, see .
  84. Adam Liptak (27 June 2005). "Court Declines to Rule on Case of Reporters' Refusal to Testify". The New York Times . Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  85. Manly, Lorne; Kirkpatrick, David D. (1 July 2005). "Top Editor at Time Inc. Made a Difficult Decision His Own". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  86. Isikoff, Michael. "The Rove Factor?". MSNBC. Newsweek National News. Archived from the original on 2005-07-06.
  87. (Editor & Publisher) (Time Magazine).
  88. "Newsweek: Rove spoke to reporter before leak". CNN. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  89. White, Josh (11 July 2005). "Rove Told Reporter of Plame's Role But Didn't Name Her, Attorney Says". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  90. Allen, Mike; Balz, Dan (12 July 2005). "Bush Aide Deflects Questions On Rove". The Washington Post . Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  91. Stout, David (11 July 2005). "Rove Comes Under New Scrutiny in C.I.A. Disclosure Case". The New York Times . Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  92. Gary Langer (2005-07-18). "ABC News: Poll: Many Doubt White House Cooperation in CIA Leak Probe". ABC News. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  93. Sanger, David E.; Stevenson, Richard W. (19 July 2005). "Bush Responds to Questioning Over Leak Case". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  94. Hamburger, Tom; Wallsten, Peter (18 July 2005). "Top Aides Reportedly Set Sights on Wilson". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 11 September 2005.
  95. "Source of Forged Niger-Iraq Uranium Documents Identified". Informationclearinghouse.info. 2001-09-11. Archived from the original on 2012-08-19. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  96. "Intel officers: Bush needs to punish Rove for Plame outing". Fox News . Associated Press. 22 July 2005. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
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  99. "Dem senators urge Congress to probe CIA leak". Fox News . Associated Press. 26 July 2005. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
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  102. "Rove testifies in CIA leak case." NBC News. 26 April 2006. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  103. Tom Regan (4 November 2005). "Italy denies faking Niger uranium documents: Italian secret service names 'occasional spy' as source of forged documents". The Christian Science Monitor . Archived from the original on November 7, 2005. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
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  106. Yost, Pete. "Novak: Rove was a source in outing Plame". Archived from the original on 2006-07-14.
  107. "Plame sues Cheney, Rove, Libby". USA Today. 14 July 2006.
  108. "Complaint" (PDF). The Washington Post.
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  111. Robert Novak, "Armitage's Leak", The Washington Post 13 September 2006.
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