July 14 or 15, 2003: Libby, Cheney Decide to Leak Classified Information to Wall Street Journal

Vice President Dick Cheney and his chief of staff, Lewis Libby, discuss leaking portions of the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (see October 1, 2002) to the Wall Street Journal. Either Cheney and Libby together, or Libby alone, convinces Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz to make the leak. [US District Court for the District of Columbia, 5/12/2006 ; US Department of Justice, 2/2007 ] The Journal will write an article based on the leaked information two or three days later (see July 17, 2003).