For Bush, Effect of Investigation of C.I.A. Leak Case Is Uncertain

[norml]

White House Memo

For Bush, Effect of Investigation of C.I.A. Leak Case Is Uncertain

By RICHARD W. STEVENSON
Published: July 24, 2005


WASHINGTON, July 23 - His former secretary of state, most of his closest aides and a parade of other senior officials have testified to a grand jury. His political strategist has emerged as a central figure in the case, as has his vice president's chief of staff. His spokesman has taken a pounding for making public statements about the matter that now appear not to be accurate.

For all that, it is still not clear what the investigation into the leak of a C.I.A. operative's identity will mean for President Bush. So far the disclosures about the involvement of Karl Rove, among others, have not exacted any substantial political price from the administration. And nobody has suggested that the investigation directly implicates the president.

Yet Mr. Bush has yet to address some uncomfortable questions that he may not be able to evade indefinitely.

For starters, did Mr. Bush know in the fall of 2003, when he was telling the public that no one wanted to get to the bottom of the case more than he did, that Mr. Rove, his longtime strategist and senior adviser, and I. Lewis Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, had touched on the C.I.A. officer's identity in conversations with journalists before the officer's name became public? If not, when did they tell him, and what would the delay say in particular about his relationship with Mr. Rove, whose career and Mr. Bush's have been intertwined for decades?


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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/politics/24bush.html?hp&ex=1122177600&en=8dac145cfd031145&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Erika]

1. W deserves the Nixon questions

What did he know and when did he know it.

[Bumblebee]

2. Pretty good

This sentence is confusing, though:

Although it is possible that other officials will turn out to have played leading roles in the leak case, the subordinates whose actions would appear to be of most interest to Mr. Bush right now are Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby, who as Mr. Cheney's chief of staff had particular reason to protect the vice president.

Does he really mean "of interest to Bush" or was it supposed to be "of interest to Fitzgerald"?