I've asked this before, but how did the White House know that Joe Wilson's wife was

a covert CIA operative? Was there a list of CIA operatives floating around the White House? That question seems nonsensical, but how did anyone at the level of the President's and Vice President's staff have the information? Was it because Valerie Plame came close to tying Halliburton and our esteemed VP to running weapons to our enemies?

at that time, trying to cook the intel...

"Hey, Mr Rove, did you know that Joe Wilson's wife works down the hall?"

"So, Mr Wilson, your wife can't go with you on this trip because she's working? Who does she work for?"

"Mr President, here's a complete list of all our covert employees so you can send them all Christmas cards."

The only thing that makes sense to me as the way they identified Valerie and the motive for outing her is that she was close to nailing Cheney's hide to the wall.

Newt Gingrich are known to have gone to the CIA frequently to pressure analysts to interpret information in a way hat benefitted those calling for an invasion of Iraq.

He (Wilson) was an ambassador to Iraq during the GHWB administration. In fact, when Fitzgerald first brought suit and asked the current administration to turn over any e-mails regarding the Wilson's, the Bushies asked for extra time (remember that?) to compile them all because their relationship went back for so many years.

their neighbors had no clue what she did for a living. I really doubt that the Wilson's told the BFEE that Valerie was a Covert Agent. It's just not what you do when you're covert. YOU TELL NO ONE WHO YOU ARE OR WHAT YOU REALLY DO FOR A LIVING.

I just remember the Foxbots trying to pass Wilson off as a know-nothing.

I don't think anyone remembers that. It didn't happen.

That's how. A State Dept. "SENSITIVE" memo. And as someone posted above, Cheney was living at the CIA digging up bogus evidence to 'fit' the war he wanted to get on. Cheney probably knew who she was too. I think it's disgusting that Colin Powell was involved in this whole thing....HE requested the memo! ON WHOSE BEHALF?

<snip>
Hardball with Chris Matthews' for July 21: RoveGate Timeline: What Did The White House Know And When Did It Know It? David Shuster
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL.
We have new information tonight in the CIA leaks investigation. MSNBC has confirmed that the grand jury has been examining a classified State Department memo that could be crucial to the case. And this memo, requested by then Secretary of State Colin Powell in response to a column critical of the administration, was shared with Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary at the time, and has prompted testimony from multiple State Department officials.
HARDBALL correspondent David Shuster reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID SHUSTER, NBC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A witness who testified at the grand jury and lawyers for other witnesses say the memo was written in July of 2003, identified Valerie Wilson, also known as Valerie Plame, as a CIA officer, and cited her in a paragraph marked S for sensitive.
According to lawyers, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and undersecretaries, including John Bolton, gave testimony about this memo. And a lawyer for one State Department official says his client testified that, as President Bush was flying to Africa on Air Force One two years ago, Press Secretary Ari Fleischer could be seen reading the document on board.
The timing is significant, because the president's trip on July 7 was one day after Ambassador Joe Wilson's column was published criticizing the administration. In other words, on July 6, Wilson's column comes out. On July 7, the State Department memo about Wilson's wife is seen on Air Force One. And, on July 8, Karl Rove had a conversation with columnist Robert Novak, but says it was Novak who told him about Valerie Plame, not the other way around.<snip>

http://www.bushwatch.com/rovegate.htm

though largely for something that is never discussed. The first draft of it noted that Wilson went to Africa in 1999, in a mission supported by the CIA, to investigate the Niger uranium trade.

In the build-up to the war, the OVP/OSP had access to all of the intelligence regarding Niger's yellow cake supply. They knew that Wilson, under the cover of the State Department (as opposed to those who work without official cover), had gone to Africa in '99. They knew why he went, and what he found/didn't find.

The significance of the '99 trip should not be underestimated. It remains one of the most obvious, but untouched areas that any good journalist would focus on if they wanted to inform the public of what really happened in 2002-03. The Wilson's civil suit could put that card on the table. The Wilsons are willing to do that; the administration fears that possibility.