|
Bush sidesteps questions about CIA leak
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-05 14:01
Bush goes on to stops in Brazil and Panama.
Back in Washington, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has
called on Bush to hold a prime-time news conference to answer lingering
questions.
Libby's indictment has enabled Democrats to raise anew questions about the
Bush administration's primary justification for invading Iraq, the assertion —
later proven wrong — that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats have called on Bush to
apologize for the White House misleading the public on the CIA leak case.
Privately, some Republicans have urged the same.
In a letter to the White House, four Democratic congressmen also questioned
Rove's suitability to hold a security clearance. Federal guidelines say
allegations or admissions of criminal conduct, regardless of whether a person is
formally charged, may disqualify a person from holding a security clearance.
In June 2004, Bush said he stood by his previous pledge to "fire anybody" in
his administration shown to have leaked Plame's name. His press secretary, after
checking with Libby and Rove, assured the public that neither man had anything
to do with the leak.
It turns out both were involved, though Rove has not been charged and neither
man has been accused of breaking the law against revealing the identity of an
undercover agent.
Libby was charged with lying to investigators and the grand jury about
leaking the CIA status of Plame, who was a covert officer. Plame's CIA status
was exposed after her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, accused the
administration of twisting intelligence before the war to exaggerate the Iraqi
threat from weapons of mass destruction.
Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is said to be still
considering whether Rove illegally misled investigators.
|
