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.