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Supreme Court Pick Shifts Attention From Rove, Agent Disclosure By Kristin Jensen and Richard Keil July 20 (Bloomberg) -- President George W Bush's nomination of a new Sup reme Court justice may give White House adviser Karl Rove a temporary re prieve from public scrutiny of his role in the disclosure of an intellig ence operative's identity. About six in 10 Americans who are paying close attention to reports about who leaked information that helped unmask a covert intelligence agent s ay Rove should resign, according to a poll conducted last week by the Pe w Research Center for the People & the Press. The Supreme Court announcement may freeze things, and that's probably a good thing for the White House,'' said Carroll Doherty, an editor at th e Washington-based Pew Center. Bush accelerated his search for a Supreme Court nominee in part because o f special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation into the leak of a CIA agent's name, according to Republicans familiar with administrati on strategy. Bush originally had planned to announce a replacement for retiring Justic e Sandra Day O'Connor on July 26 or 27, just before his planned July 28 departure for a month-long vacation at his Crawford, Texas, ranch, said two administration officials, who spoke on the condition they not be nam ed. The officials said those plans changed because Rove has become a focus of Fitzgerald's interest and of news accounts about the matter. Presidential counselor Dan Bartlett said the only reason Bush announced h is selection of appeals court Judge John G Roberts Jr. last night was t o allow the nominee to pay courtesy calls on members of the Senate befor e Congress begins its scheduled summer recess on July 29. Questions Bush has been questioned about Rove and his role in the matter during app earances with foreign leaders. com report identifying Central Intelligence Agency operative Valerie Plame, who is married to a critic of Bush's Iraq policy. Time reporter Matthew Cooper wrote in this week's issue of the magazine t hat Rove didn't give him Plame's name. Battle Through' Rove is not going out the door unless the US attorney comes forward a nd says, He did it and I am going to indict him,''' Rollins said. Previously, he suggested that revealing the identity o f a CIA agent would be enough to warrant termination. Rove, 54, is a lon gtime Bush adviser and the man the president called the architect'' of his election victories. Bush and spokesman Scott McClellan have refused to answer questions about Rove's status, citing the investigation. Some Democrats, including Mass achusetts Senator John Kerry, who ran against Bush in 2004, have called on the president to fire Rove. Thirty-nine percent of the public, including those who aren't following t he case closely, say Rove should step down, the Pew poll found. At this point, Americans' interest in the Rove story is comparable to past Washi ngton scandals, such as the ethics questions that dogged former Republic an House Speaker Newt Gingrich, according to Doherty. Following the Story Forty-eight percent said they are paying either very close'' or fairl y close'' attention to the story, the poll found. By comparison, only 29 percent of Americans said they were paying close attention to reports e arlier this year that current House Majority Leader Tom DeLay had violat ed ethics rules by accepting travel from a lobbyist. The public isn't fully engaged on this yet,'' Doherty said. Purposely and knowingly unmasking a covert operative is a crime under a 1 982 federal law. Eleven former intelligence officers wrote a letter to c ongressional leaders on July 18 saying the tone and substance'' of the debate over the leak is harmful to US undercover operatives. Unambiguous Message' We believe it is appropriate for the president to move proactively to d ismiss from office or administratively punish any official who participa ted in any way in revealing Valerie Plame's status,'' they wrote. A week before, Wilson wrote an opinion article published in the New York Times questioning whether the Bush administration twisted'' some of th e intelligence on Iraq's weapons to justify the war. Novak discussed Wilson and his wife with Rove on July 8, 2003, according to the New York Times.
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