Your timeline is correct.. the MSM has blended all the IMs and eMail scandal into the same thing..
That's been the tactic all along, to confuse the e-mails and the IMs and unfortunately a lot of people have been duped by that blurring of the distinction. I even saw one article refer to Speaker Hastert as having known about the "inappropriate communications" which someone who's not informed would assume to mean the IMs. The media did their best to help the Democrats win this election, but the wheels are quickly coming off their evil effort.