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Bush refuses to discuss Rove, ongoing CIA leak investigation

By wire services
Published November 5, 2005

President Bush on Friday declined to answer questions about the future of his political strategist Karl Rove, who has been questioned by investigators in the CIA leak case.

Speaking to reporters in Argentina before the official opening of the two-day Summit of the Americas, Bush refused to discuss Rove's future while the investigation is under way.

"We're going through a very serious investigation," Bush said. "I'm not going to discuss the investigation until it's completed."

Rove remains under investigation, and some Democrats have called on Bush to fire him.

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was indicted last week in connection with the investigation into who leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

Libby, who resigned as soon as the indictment was announced, was arraigned Thursday. He pleaded not guilty to charges of lying to investigators and a grand jury about his conversations with reporters.

Rove, the architect of Bush's successful campaigns, remains a central figure in the case because of his reported conversations with journalists about Plame.

WASHINGTON - The FBI has determined financial gain, not an effort to influence U.S. policy, was behind the forged documents the Bush administration used to bolster its prewar claim that Iraq sought uranium ore in Niger.

The FBI's investigation began after questions were raised about a brief portion of President Bush's January 2003 State of the Union speech when he said that Iraq was pursuing the uranium ore, part of his argument to justify the coming invasion of Iraq.

Some U.S. and foreign officials disputed the authenticity of documents, supporting Bush's contention, that showed Saddam Hussein was seeking the uranium ore for a nuclear weapons program.

The FBI had refused to comment on the matter until Italian news sources reported this week that FBI director Robert Mueller sent the Italian government a letter in July with the results of the bureau's two-year investigation.

Information from the Washington Post, Dallas Morning News and Associated Press was used in this report.

[Last modified November 5, 2005, 01:23:12]