Will the Stonewall Work?

Richard Simon and Richard B. Schmitt write in the Los Angeles Times that "the new information about Rove's role was emerging as a potential embarrassment for a White House that had scrupulously sought to avoid the kinds of investigations that plagued the Clinton administration."

And they note: "Luskin declined to say whether Rove knew that Plame was a covert agent, even if he did not know her name, which analysts said was a crucial factor in determining whether the law was broken."

Steven Thomma writes for Knight Ridder Newspapers: "Even if Rove didn't violate the law, proof that he disclosed Plame's identity could damage his effectiveness in public life and tarnish the president for tolerating it."

Mark Silva writes in the Chicago Tribune: "Sensing vulnerability on the part of a formidable political adversary, Democrats on Monday urged hearings into the conduct of presidential adviser Karl Rove and demanded his security clearance be revoked as the White House grew close-mouthed about allegations that Rove played a role in revealing a CIA employee's identity. . . .

"Democrats mounted a full-blown assault on Rove, the architect of imposing Republican electoral victories over the past five years, while the political damage to the White House remained unclear. Rove also recently drew fire for saying that after the Sept. 11 attacks liberals wanted to offer the terrorists 'therapy and understanding.' "

Adam Entous writes for Reuters: "The White House faced mounting Democratic calls for President Bush to sideline or fire his top political aide Karl Rove on Monday over his involvement in a CIA leak scandal."

The Associated Press and the New York Times were among the journalistic institutions offering their readers a collection of previous White House statements on the leak case.

And see yesterday's column for more background.

This Just In

At an Oval Office photo-op with the prime minister of Singapore this morning, Bush took questions from two reporters -- one American, and one from Singapore. The Singaporean reporter asked about trade. Fair enough.

But instead of asking about Rove, Deb Riechmann of the Associated Press asked Bush how close he was to a Supreme Court nomination. She used a follow-up to ask his reaction to a comment about the nomination by the first lady.

When Bush shut the event down, other reporters spoke up -- but their White House wranglers yelled them down. I heard one reporter shout "Will you fire him?" but Bush just grinned. What a missed opportunity.

Bush meets with his Cabinet tomorrow morning -- maybe someone can ask him about Rove then.