August: Wilson participated in a "public panel in Washington" and is quoted as having said "At the end of the day, it's of keen interest to me to see whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs. And trust me. When I use that name, I measure my words." September 2003 16 September: Scott McClellan says "it's totally ridiculous" to say Karl Rove was the Plame leaker. 26 September: Tenet, the director of the CIA, requests that the Justice Department open an investigation into the leak. 29 September: McClellan says that Karl Rove has personally assured him that he was not involved and that anyone found to have leaked classified information would be fired. 29 September: Novak insists that he stumbled on the story himself. "'Nobody in the Bush administration called me to leak this,' Novak said on CNN, saying the information was disclosed to him while he was interviewing a senior Bush administration official. ... Novak said the administration official told him in July that Wilson's trip was 'inspired by his wife,' and that the CIA confirmed her 'involvement in the mission for her husband.' ... 'They asked me not to use her name, but never indicated it would endanger her or anybody else,' he said, adding that a source at the CIA told him Plame was 'an analyst — not a covert operator and not in charge of undercover operators.'" 29 September: ABC reporter asks "Did you have any knowledge or did you leak the name of the CIA agent to the press?" Rove answers "No." 29 September: In an article in the National Review, Clifford May claims that Novak's column mentioning Plame "wasn't news to me. I had been told that [Plame worked for the CIA]— but not by anyone working in the White House. Rather, I learned it from someone who formerly worked in the government and he mentioned it in an offhand manner, leading me to infer it was something that insiders were well aware of." 29 September: The Justice Department officially launches a criminal investigation of the leak, while leading Democrats call on Attorney General Ashcroft to appoint a special prosecutor. The Justice Department informs White House counsel Alberto Gonzales around 8pm. Gonzales immediately informs White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card but waits until the next morning to notify the White House staff and to