WHIG PUSHES NEW, SHARPER IRAQ RHETORIC

WHIG Pushed Iraq Nuclear Threat In Papers and Planned Speeches. Under a special "strategic communications" group associated with WHIG, White House staff planned speeches and wrote papers which emphasized Iraq's supposed nuclear threat. According to the Washington Post, "The escalation of nuclear rhetoric a year ago, including the introduction of the term 'mushroom cloud' into the debate, coincided with the formation of a White House Iraq Group, or WHIG, a task force assigned to 'educate the public' about the threat from Hussein, as a participant put it." [Washington Post, 8/10/03]

Cheney Trumpeted Iraq Nuclear Threat In August of 2002. "Cheney raised the alarm about Iraq's nuclear menace three times in August. He was far ahead of the president's public line. ... On Aug. 7, Cheney volunteered in a question-and-answer session at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, speaking of Hussein, that 'left to his own devices, it's the judgment of many of us that in the not-too-distant future, he will acquire nuclear weapons.' On Aug. 26, he described Hussein as a 'sworn enemy of our country' who constituted a 'mortal threat' to the United States. He foresaw a time in which Hussein could 'subject the United States or any other nation to nuclear blackmail.' 'We now know that Saddam has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons,' he said. 'Among other sources, we've gotten this from firsthand testimony from defectors, including Saddam's own son-in-law.'" [Washington Post, 8/10/03]

Bush Cited Iraq's Nuclear Threat On At Least Three Separate Occasions. In the fall of 2002, while making the case for war, Bush began to highlight Iraq's supposed Iraq threat. On September 7, 2002 he cited a non-existent IAEA report that Iraq was "six months away from developing a nuclear weapon." On September 12, 2002, in front of the United Nations Bush said, "Iraq has made several attempts to buy high-strength aluminum tubes used to enrich uranium for a nuclear weapon." Finally, on October 7, 2002, Bush warned, "America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof, the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud." [Bush Remarks, 9/12/02; Bush Remarks, 9/7/02; Washington Post, 8/10/03; Bush Remarks, 10/7/02 ]

Rice Warned of Smoking Gun as Mushroom Cloud. "'The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.' national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said." [AP, 9/8/02]

OCTOBER 7TH: CONFLICT OVER NIGER REFERENCES IN STATE OF THE UNION

White House Dropped Niger Uranium Reference From Bush's Address To The Nation, After Tenet's Concern's. In October 2002, CIA Director George Tenet personally and repeatedly warned Stephen Hadley, a deputy of Condoleezza Rice, as well as other White House officials that references to Niger be dropped from Bush's October 7 speech to the nation. The Niger allegation was omitted from that speech. [Washington Post, 7/25/01; New York Times, 7/16/03; 7/13/03]

2003: INTERNAL WHITE HOUSE BATTLES INTENSIFY

JANUARY 28TH: LINE ON NIGER RETURNS TO THE STATE OF THE UNION

Bush Claimed That Iraq Was Seeking Uranium From Africa. "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." [Bush, State of The Union, 1/28/03]

FEBRUARY 4TH: LIBBY TAKES INTELLIGENCE CRUSADE DIRECTLY TO POWELL

Libby Lobbied Powell To Add Intelligence Information He Favored To UN Speech, The Night Before The Address. Another official recalled that Libby was pushing so hard to include certain intelligence information in the speech that Libby lobbied Powell for last minute changes in a phone call to Powell's suite at the Waldorf Astoria hotel the night before the speech. Libby's suggestions were dismissed by Powell and his staff. [National Journal, 10/27/05]

FEBRUARY 5TH: WHIG PROVIDES POWELL WITH SCRIPT FOR UN

Whig Provided Powell With "Script" For Speech to United Nations on Iraq's WMD Threat. The final step was to get Powell to make the case to the United Nations. This was handled by the White House Iraq Group, which, Bamford says, provided Powell with a script for his speech, using information developed by Feith's group. Much of it was unsourced material fed to newspapers by the OSP. Realizing this, Powell's team turned to the now-discredited National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq. But some of Feith's handiwork ended up in Powell's mouth anyway. [UPI, 7/19/04]

MAY 29TH 2003: LIBBY BEGINS TO COLLECT INFORMATION ON WILSON

Libby Collected Information on Wilson. Beginning in late May of 2003, Libby allegedly began acquiring information about a 2002 trip to the African country of Niger by Joseph Wilson...to investigate allegations concerning efforts by the former government of Iraq to acquire uranium yellowcake..."[DOJ Press Release, 10/28/05]

JUNE 2003: WILSON EXPOSED THE TRUTH

SUMMER, 2003: WHIG MEMBERS REUNITE TO DEFEND THE IRAQ WAR

Whig Members Reunite To Back Up Their Faulty Intelligence. During the summer of 2003, Hughes and Mary Matalin joined Dan Bartlett in formulating a strategy to pushback on general questions about the White House's credibility over its handling of the Iraq war. "The plan: Release all relevant information. Try to shift attention back to Bush's leadership in the war on terrorism. Diminish the significance of that single piece of iffy intelligence by making the case that Saddam was a threat for many other reasons. Put Republican lawmakers and other Bush allies on TV to defend him. Most important: Question the motives of Democrats who supported the war but now are criticizing the president." [New York Times, 10/21/02; USA Today, 7/24/03,]

MEMO TO UNDERCUT WILSON'S CRITICISM WAS PREPARED

June 2003: The State Department Compiled a Memo on Joe Wilson. On June 10, 2003 the State Department's Office of Intelligence and Research compiled a memo for Marc Grossman, then the Under Secretary of State for political affairs, on Joe Wilson's mission to Niger. The memo included the fact that Wilson's wife was a CIA operative working on WMD issues. At the time, Wilson was criticizing the administration's justification for the war, specifically discrediting the charge that Iraq was attempting to purchase yellow cake uranium. [Newsweek, 7/25/05; New York Times, 7/16/05]

June 9, 2003: Libby Received Classified Documents from CIA on Wilson's Trip. "On or about June 9th, 2003, a number of classified documents from the CIA were faxed to the Office of the Vice President to the personal attention of Libby and another person in the Vice President's office. The documents, which bore classification markings, discussed, among other things, Wilson and his trip to Niger, but did not mention Wilson by name. After receiving these documents, Libby and one or more other persons in the Vice President's office handwrote the names 'Wilson' and 'Joe Wilson' on the documents." [DOJ, 10/28/05]

June 12, 2003: Cheney Met With Libby About Plame. "Libby was advised by the Vice President of the United States that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA in the Counterproliferation Division. Libby understood that the Vice President had learned this information from the CIA." [New York Times, 10/25/05]

THE LEAK

June 23, 2003: Libby Disparaged Selective Leaking, and Then Sprung a Leak of His Own. Libby met with Judith Miller of the New York Times. Libby was critical of the CIA and disparaged what he termed "selective leaking" by the CIA...Libby informed Miller Wilson's wife might work at a bureau of the CIA. [DOJ, 10/28/05]

JULY 2003: WILSON SPOKE OUT

First Week Of July 2003: Wilson Appeared On Meet The Press And Wrote An Op-Ed Critical of Administration's Iraq Uranium Claims. In July of 2003 Wilson went on the record with his concerns about the Administration's claims that Iraq had attempted to acquire Uranium from Niger. Wilson wrote an Op-Ed in the New York Times on July 6 and then appeared on Meet the Press to voice his concerns. Up until that point Wilson had only been commenting on background. [Newsweek, 7/25/05]

DID YOU GET THE MEMO? THEY GOT THE MEMO...

July 6, 2003: Armitage Asked For State Department Memo To Be Forwarded To Powell After Wilson's Critical Op-Ed Appeared. When Mr. Wilson's Op-Ed article appeared on July 6, 2003, a Sunday, Richard L. Armitage, then Deputy Secretary of State, called Carl W. Ford Jr., the Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Research, at home, a former State Department official said. Mr. Armitage asked Mr. Ford to send a copy of the State Department memo to Mr. Powell, who was preparing to leave for Africa with Mr. Bush, the former official said. Mr. Ford sent it to the White House for transmission to Mr. Powell. [New York Times, 7/16/05]

July 7, 2003: Powell Circulated The Memo That Identified Plame To White House Officials on Air Force One. The Los Angeles Times reported that, "[Armitage] was forwarded a copy of a memo classified 'Secret' that included a description of Wilson's trip for the CIA, his findings, a brief description of the origin of the trip and a reference to 'Wilson's wife.'... July 7, this memo and the notes were removed from the safe and forwarded to Powell via a secure fax line to Air Force One. Powell was on the way to Africa with the president...Powell told prosecutors that he circulated the memo among those traveling with him in the front section of Air Force One." It was also reported Ari Fleischer and other high level officials were seen with the memo. According to individuals connected to the case, the Special Prosecutor, Peter Fitzgerald believed "that a printout of memo was in the front of Air Force One" during the trip, making it available to various members of the Bush staff. [Los Angeles Times, 8/25/05; Washington Post, 7/17/05; Bloomberg, 7/18/05]

... AND USED IT TO MAKE THEIR CASE IN THE MEDIA

State Department Memo May Have Been Used to Brief Rice for Sunday Shows. "Meanwhile, in transatlantic secure phone calls, the message machinery focused on a crucial topic: who should carry the freight on the following Sunday's talk shows? The message: protect Cheney by explaining that he had had nothing to do with sending Wilson to Niger, and dismiss the yellowcake issue. ...Condi Rice, the ultimate good soldier... To allow her to prepare on the long flight home to D.C., White House officials assembled a briefing book, which they faxed to the Bush entourage in Africa...It contained classified information—perhaps including all or part of the memo from State. The entire binder was labeled TOP SECRET." [Newsweek, 7/25/05]

Administration Officials Pushed Information To Reporters That Was Contained in Memo. During the Bush Administration's trip to Africa, Fleischer and Dan Bartlett urged reporters to look into the origins of Wilson's trip. The fact that Plame had been involved in the initial meetings on Wilson's trip was contained in the State Department Memo and was in the section marked "sensitive." [Wall Street Journal, 7/19/05; Newsweek, 7/25/05]

THE LEAK: WHY WON'T JUDY WRITE?

July 8, 2003: Libby Met Again with Judy Miller. "When the conversation turned to the subject of Joseph Wilson...Libby advised Miller of his belief that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA". [DOJ, 10/28/05]

July 12, 2003: Libby Called Judy Miller. "In the late afternoon, Libby spoke by telephone with Miller and discussed Wilson's wife, and that she worked at the CIA." [DOJ, 10/28/05]

July 10, 2003: Libby Informed that Novak Will Write About Wilson's Wife. Libby spoke to a senior White House official (Offical A) who advised Libby a conversation Official A had earlier that week with columnist Robert Novak in which Wilson's wife was discussed as a CIA employee involved in Wilson's trip. Libby was advised by Official A that Novak would be writing a story about Wilson's wife." [DOJ, 10/28/05]

Novak Attempted to Contact Fleischer While He was On Air Force One. According to sources close to the investigation, Air Force One call logs show that Bob Novak attempted to get in contact with White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer while he was on Air Force One during the White House's Trip to Africa. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald subpoenaed the phone and fax records of Air Force One. [LA Times, 7/18/05]

JULY 2003: THE SMEAR CAMPAIGN BEGINS

ROVE AND LIBBY WORKED TO OUT WILSON'S WIFE IN THE PRESS

July 2003: Rove Declared Wilson's Wife "Fair Game." Wilson said that Chris Matthews called him one week after Novak's column ran saying, "I just got off the phone with Karl Rove. He says your wife is fair game." [Face the Nation, 10/3/03; CNN, 7/14/05]

July 11, 2003: Rove Gave Matthew Cooper A "Big Warning" That Wilson's Assertions Might Not Be Accurate. Rove had a conversation with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper on July 11, 2003. Cooper wrote an email about the conversation to his Time bureau chief, describing how Rove gave him a "big warning" that Wilson's assertions might not be entirely accurate and that it was not the director of the CIA or the vice president who sent Wilson on his trip. Rather, "it was, KR said, wilson's wife, who apparently works at the agency on wmd who authorized the trip." Wilson's wife is Valerie Plame, who was then an undercover agent working as an analyst in the CIA's Directorate of Operations counter proliferation division. [Washington Post, 7/11/05; Newsweek, 7/18/05]

THE LEAK: NOVAK COMES THROUGH

July 14, 2003: Novak Revealed The Classified Identity Of Wilson's Wife In His Column. Bob Novak named Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, in his syndicated column, revealing the classified identity of a CIA agent as sourced by two White House aides. [Chicago Sun-Times, 7/14/03]

Libby and Rove Were "Especially Intent" On Discrediting Wilson. "Prosecutors investigating whether administration officials illegally leaked the identity of Wilson's wife, a CIA officer who had worked undercover, have been told that Bush's top political strategist, Karl Rove, and Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, were especially intent on undercutting Wilson's credibility, according to people familiar with the inquiry. Although lower-level White House staffers typically handle most contacts with the media, Rove and Libby began personally communicating with reporters about Wilson, prosecutors were told." [Los Angeles Times, 7/18/05]

WHIG "Determined to Fight". When the disclosure of Wilson's CIA mission to Niger put the White House on the defensive, one administration official said it reminded a tight-knit group of Bush neoconservatives of their longtime battles with the agency and underlined their determination to fight. Many of those officials also were members of the White House Iraq Group, established to coordinate and promote administration policy. It included the most influential players who would represent two elements of the current scandal: a hardball approach to political critics and long-standing disdain for CIA views on intelligence matters. [Los Angeles Times, 8/25/05]

SEPTEMBER 2003: A COVER-UP IS BORN

September 14, 2003: Cheney Said He Didn't Know Who Sent Wilson To Niger. Asked on Meet The Press about Joe Wilson's trip to Niger Cheney said: "I don't know Joe Wilson. I've never met Joe Wilson...And Joe Wilson--I don't know who sent Joe Wilson." [Meet The Press, 9/14/03]

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT BEGAN INVESTIGATION

September 27, 2003: Justice Department Began Investigating The Leak. The Justice Department begins investigation into whether a law against disclosure of the identities of covert U.S. intelligence agents was violated when Plame was named in Novak's column and who was responsible. [CBSNews.com, 7/28/03; AP, 12/31/03]

WHITE HOUSE SAID THE LEAK WOULD BE TAKEN CARE OF, STOOD BEHIND ROVE

September 29, 2003: McClellan Said Leaker Would Be Fired. Scott McClellan said: "If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration." [White House Press Briefing, 9/29/03]

September 30, 2003: Bush Said That If There Was A Leak In His Administration They Would Be "Taken Care Of." President Bush reiterated stern treatment for the culprit, saying, "if there was a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of...And so I welcome the investigation...I have told our administration people in my administration to be fully cooperative. I want to know the truth." [White House, Bush Travel Pool, 9/30/03]

OCTOBER 2003: THE WHITE HOUSE RESPONDS, BUSH SPEAKS OUT

October, 2003: Bush "Furious" With Rove for His Role in the Leak. "An angry President Bush rebuked chief political guru Karl Rove two years ago for his role in the Valerie Plame affair, sources told the Daily News. "He made his displeasure known to Karl," a presidential counselor told The News. "He made his life miserable about this."...Bush was initially furious with Rove in 2003 when his deputy chief of staff conceded he had talked to the press about the Plame leak." [New York Daily News, 10/19/05]

October 30, 2003: Bush Said Appropriate Action Would Be Taken Against The Leaker. President Bush said: "I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it. And we'll take the appropriate action. And this investigation is a good thing." [Remarks by the President, 10/30/03]

MCCLELLAN JOINED IN THE MIS-DIRECTION GAME

October 10, 2003: McClellan Said He Spoke With Rove And Libby Personally, And That They Denied Being Involved. Press Secretary Scott McClellan said political advisor Karl Rove, Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Lewis Libby, and National Security Council member Elliott Abrams had each denied being the source of the leak. Said McClellan, "Those individuals — I talked — I spoke with those individuals, as I pointed out, and those individuals assured me they were not involved in this. And that's where it stands." [WH Briefing, 10/10/03]

McClellan: Ridiculous To Think Rove Was To Blame for Leak. "'There's been nothing, absolutely nothing, brought to our attention to suggest any White House involvement [in the CIA leak],' said White House spokesman Scott McClellan... McClellan dismissed the suggestion and said the White House would cooperate with a Justice Department probe. But he said it was 'ridiculous' to blame Rove." [Daily News, 10/30/03]

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT HANDED OVER THE CASE TO A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR

December 30, 2003: Special Prosecutor Appointed. Attorney General John Ashcroft and his office staff recused themselves from the Justice Department's criminal investigation into the leak of the name and identity of an undercover CIA officer. Deputy Attorney General James Comey announced at a news conference in Washington December 30 that he has named Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney for the northern district of Illinois, to lead the probe. [State Department Briefing, 9/30/03]

2004: INVESTIGATIONS FOCUSES ON THE WHITE HOUSE

WHIG Documents Subpoenaed In Leak Investigation. "Also sought in the wide-ranging document requests contained in three grand jury subpoenas to the Executive Office of President Bush are records created in July by the White House Iraq Group, a little-known internal task force established in August 2002 to create a strategy to publicize the threat posed by Saddam Hussein." [The Times Union (Albany, NY), 5/5/04]

Scooter Libby and Karl Rove Testified in Front of Grand Jury. "Presidential adviser Karl Rove has...[made] another trip — his fourth — to the grand jury investigating who leaked the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame. Mr. Fitzgerald is also re-examining grand jury testimony by Mr. Libby." [New York Times, 10/7/05; Los Angeles Times, 10/7/05]

Mary Matalin Testified in Front of Grand Jury. Matalin appeared before the grand jury January 23, 2004 the day after the subpoenas were issued. [Newsday, 3/5/04]

Condoleeza Rice Questioned By Special Prosecutor. "Among those who are known to have been interviewed by the FBI or testified before the grand jury [include] Bush White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice." [Washington Post 11/26/04]

Andy Card, Stephen Hadley Questioned in Leak Case. White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card...[and] Deputy National Security Advisor, Stephen Hadley...are believed to have been questioned in the leak case; papers and e-mails about the group were subpoenaed. [Los Angeles Times, 8/25/05]

Karen Hughes Questioned in Leak Case. Karen Hughes told the Senate Foreign Relations committee that she had been "questioned" by Fitzgerald about the Plame leak. [Los Angeles Times, 7/23/05]

Jim Wilkinson Questioned in Leak Case. Fitzgerald has questioned ... ex-White House aide Jim Wilkinson about the vice president's knowledge of the anti-Wilson campaign and his dealings on it with Libby, his chief of staff, the people said. [Bloomberg, 10/17/05]

John Hannah Testified in Leak Case. "Special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald began an inquiry in December 2003 into whether the exposure of Plame's status was a violation of federal law. He has since discussed the matter with President Bush and Vice President Cheney and questioned more than two dozen other people [including] ... John Hannah, Cheney's deputy national security adviser." [Washington Post, 10/20/05]

Cheney and Libby Withheld Documents From Senate Investigation. "Vice President Cheney and his chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, overruling advice from some White House political staffers and lawyers, decided to withhold crucial documents from the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2004 when the panel was investigating the use of pre-war intelligence that erroneously concluded Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, according to Bush administration and congressional sources. Among the White House materials withheld from the committee were Libby-authored passages in drafts of a speech that then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell delivered to the United Nations in February 2003 to argue the Bush administration's case for war with Iraq, according to congressional and administration sources. The withheld documents also included intelligence data that Cheney's office -- and Libby in particular -- pushed to be included in Powell's speech, the sources said." [National Journal, 10/27/05]

2005: THE WHITE HOUSE BACKS AWAY FROM ROVE AND LIBBY

ROVE WAS IDENTIFIED AS COOPER'S SOURCE

July 10, 2005: Rove Confirmed As Cooper's Source. Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, confirmed that Rove was the secret source who, at the request of both Cooper's lawyer and the prosecutor, gave Cooper permission to testify. Cooper avoided jail time by agreeing to testify before the grand jury about conversations with his sources, while New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed for refusing to discuss her confidential sources. [Washington Post, 7/11/05; Newsweek, 7/18/05]

WHITE HOUSE BACKED AWAY FROM ITS UNFAILING SUPPORT FOR ROVE AND CHANGES ITS REQUIREMENTS FOR FIRING ANYONE INVOLVED

July 11, 2005: White House Press Secretary Refused to Answer Questions About Press Leak. Scott McClellan refused to answer questions about the leak days after Rove was identified as a source in the CIA leak, saying: "The criminal investigation that you reference is something that continues at this point. And as I've previously stated, while that investigation is ongoing, the White House is not going to comment on it." [Transcript of White House Press Briefing, 7/11/05]

July 12, 2005: Bush Refused to Comment; McClellan Expressed President's "Confidence in Rove." Bush "ignored a question" about whether he would fire Rove now that it's known his adviser did talk to Cooper. But White House Press Secretary McClellan said later that "any individual who works here at the White House has the confidence of the president." McClellan said that includes Rove." [AP, 7/13/05; Los Angeles Times, 7/14/05; Washington Times, 7/14/05]

July 18, 2005: Bush Changed His Standard; Said That A Crime Must Be Committed To Warrant Being Fired. "During his joint press conference with Indian Prime Minister Singh today, President Bush was asked again about Karl Rove, and whether he would still fire somebody found to be 'involved in the CIA leak case.' The President replied, '...I don't know all the facts. I want to know all the facts...I would like this to end as quickly as possible so we know the facts. And if someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration.'" [White House Bulletin, 7/18/05]