'That's because everybody knows the controversy isn't really about (Plame). It's about how the nation ended up at war in Iraq.'

Karl Rove Isn't Off

the Hook Yet

By TOM RAUM, AP
Link Here

WASHINGTON (Oct. 28) - President Bush gets to keep trusted strategist Karl Rove at his side for now, but the dark cloud that has hung over his White House seems likely to stay there for some time.

Rove remains under investigation. And unresolved issues on the administration's use of prewar intelligence on Iraq are sure to be raised as I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby prepares for trial. That could hamper Bush's efforts to regain his political footing from a low point of his presidency.

Libby resigned as Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff on Friday, moments after the federal grand jury in the CIA-leak case indicted him on five counts of obstruction of justice, perjury and making a false statement.

It capped a grim week for Bush, one that also saw the 2,000th U.S. military death in Iraq and the end of the troubled Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers.

At the White House, there seemed to be a collective sigh of relief that things weren't even worse.

Supporters took some solace in special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's statement that the "substantial work is concluded" in his probe. Some suggested the deck was now cleared for a rebound.

"The deck may be clear, but the deck is also under water right now," said James Thurber, a political scientist at American University. "I think that inside the White House, they're in turmoil."

That's because everybody knows the controversy isn't really about who blew the cover of an individual CIA agent. It's about how the nation ended up at war in Iraq.

Furthermore, the charges are serious and Libby is one of the highest ranking officials in the White House, one who sat in on nearly every national security meeting. No one is above the law, Fitzgerald said pointedly, "including high officials."

Although the indictment dealt with Libby's behavior before the grand jury and did not go to underlying core issues, it still represented the first criminal charges to arise from the administration's push to sell the public on going to war against Iraq.

At the heart of the case is whether senior administration officials in July 2003 deliberately leaked to reporters the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame in an effort to discredit and punish her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Intentionally blowing the cover of a CIA agent is a violation of federal law.

Wilson had accused the administration of twisting prewar intelligence on Iraq. Both Libby and Rove had conversations with reporters about Plame.

Republicans and Democrats used the Libby indictment to bolster their own positions, suggesting political reconciliation was unlikely as Bush tries to revive his second-term agenda.

Bush accepted Libby's resignation and, as he headed for the Marine One helicopter that would take him and his wife Laura to Camp David for the weekend, insisted he was on the job.

"We remain wholly focused on the many issues and opportunities facing this country," said Bush.

Meanwhile, Republicans circled the wagons in an effort to insulate the president - and sometimes themselves - from the charges.

"Scooter Libby is entitled to the presumption of innocence. And I hope he's innocent. But nobody at the White House is indispensable. Somebody else will step into his job," said veteran GOP consultant Charles Black. "It also is important that, in none of this is the president even remotely mentioned as being involved. And he's the only guy who's indispensable."

Democrats stayed on the attack.

"It is about how the Bush White House manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to bolster its case for the war in Iraq and to discredit anyone who dared to challenge the president," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., sounding a theme Democrats will carry into the 2006 midterm elections.

Some Republicans emphasized that no one in the investigation has been charged with the actual leaking of Plame's name. But that was not unexpected, since the underlying charge would have been hard to prove.

"What brought down the Nixon administration wasn't the burglary itself, but the cover-up of it. What caused Clinton's indictment wasn't that he had an affair with Monica Lewinsky, but he lied about it," said Erwin Chemerinsky, a Duke Law School professor. "It's consistent with what we've seen in scandals for a long time."

While Rove is expected to remain on the job, some analysts suggest Bush should consider a staff shake-up anyway to help restore credibility.

There's precedent. President Reagan made former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker, R-Tenn., his chief of staff to help him recover from the Iran-Contra scandal. And President Clinton tapped venerable Washington D.C. lawyer Lloyd Cutler as White House counsel to help defend him and his staff at Whitewater hearings.

"He needs someone with a lot of gravitas," said Paul C. Light, a presidential historian at New York University. "He needs a new Dick Cheney."