A timeline: Novak, Rove, Cooper

Friday, July 15, 2005 

The Novak story that sparked the contoversy was written on July 14, 2003. The Star Telegram reported that Rove talked to Novak on Tuesday July 8, 2003. A perpetual calendar is useful to observe the date. Cooper called Rove 4 days after his talk with Novak. The date of the Rove-Cooper conversation must then have been July 12, 2003.

U.S. grand jury information "leaked" to the Associated Press revealed Karl Rove spoke to two reporters, rather than the previously thought one reporter Matthew Cooper. It was reported here by MSNBC with the help of MSNBC's "Today" show the reporter Robert Novak was also spoken to, but without a single date to serve as a reference point. Therefore, a reader who wanted to create a timeline of events to discover the publication date of the Novak story that blew Valerie Plames's cover is presented with the following puzzle (one date is provided by WN, the date of Wilson's Op-Ed piece):

• Novak called Rove on a Tuesday, 6 days before he broke the story. During the Novak-Rove conversation, Novak asked whether Rove heard Plame was an agent. At that time, Rove said he believed that he might have heard the same... he wasn't sure if he did, and if he did, he couldn't remember who it was.

• Novak's story containing the Plame "leak" breaks 6 days after the Rove conversation. Two anonymous White House officials are its sources.

• Rove's conversation with Cooper took place 5 days after Wilson's Op-Ed piece in The New York Times ran on July 6, 2003. So Rove spoke with Cooper on July 11, 2003.

• Rove's conversation with Cooper takes place 4 days after talking to Novak. So Rove spoke to Novak on July 7, 2003.

• The Novak story broke 6 days after he spoke to Rove. So the Novak story broke on July 13, 2003.

Related news

• "White House refuses to comment on Karl Rove as source of leak" — Wikinews, July 12, 2005
• "Karl Rove named as a source of Plame leak" — Wikinews, July 3, 2005

Sources

• David Johnston and Richard W. Stevenson. "Source says Rove spoke to columnist" — Star-Telegram, July 15, 2005
• "Source: Rove says reporters told him of Plame" — MSNBC News Services, July 15, 2005
• "Americans losing faith in Bush: Poll" — Sify news, July 14, 2005
• CBS/AP. "Wilson To Bush: Fire Rove" — CBS News, July 14, 2005
• Sue Pleming. "CIA agent's spouse says Rove must go" — Reuters, July 14, 2005
• AP. "Questions and Answers on Rove, CIA Case" — SGate.com, July 14, 2005
• Associated Press. "Wilson says Bush should fire Rove" — MSNBC, July 13, 2005
• Linda Feldmann. "In CIA leak case, eyes on Rove" — The Christian Science Monitor, July 13, 2005
• Associated Press. "White House maintains confidence in Rove" — MSNBC, July 12, 2005

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