Rove appears before grand jury in CIA leak probe
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush's chief political strategist appeared Friday in front of a grand jury looking into who leaked the name of a covert CIA agent.
After his testimony, Karl Rove declined to comment as security guards whisked him away.
Federal prosecutors have been trying to determine whether a crime was committed when someone released the identity of Valerie Plame to the news media. President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell have also been interviewed, though none was summoned before the grand jury, according to The Associated Press.
Such a disclosure is illegal if it is intentional.
"Karl went to testify to do his part in finding out who leaked this information," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told CNN.
Plame's name was published by syndicated columnist Robert Novak on July 14, 2003. Novak also serves as a CNN political analyst, and he has refused to divulge who leaked the information to him.
Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has been leading a lengthy government probe into the leak. Novak disclosed Plame's CIA connection after her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, criticized a claim by President Bush that Saddam Hussein's government tried to obtain uranium in Niger -- which was later discredited.
Novak's column naming Plame appeared after Wilson's newspaper article was published. Wilson said he believes his wife's name was leaked as retribution.
The Kerry campaign complained Friday that President Bush is refusing to get to the bottom of what happened.
"With two weeks to go before the election, the American people are still in the dark about how it is that their White House leaked the name of an undercover CIA operative to the press, jeopardizing the life of this agent and possibly violating federal law," Kerry campaign senior adviser Joe Lockhart said in a statement.
"Instead of hiding behind the lawyers he so often likes to criticize, George Bush should direct Karl Rove and anyone else involved to go to the White House briefing room and come clean about their role in this insidious act. If the president sincerely wanted to get to the bottom of this potential crime, he'd stop the White House foot dragging and fully cooperate with this investigation."
In response, McClellan said, "No one wants to get to the bottom of this more than the president, and it's unfortunate there are some who want to politicize this issue for partisan gain."
Nicole Jackson and Dana Bash contributed to this report.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
