What Did the President Know?

How the Investigation Has Changed

Carol D. Leonnig and Jim VandeHei write in The Washington Post: "Initially, Fitzgerald appeared focused on the theory that Libby had leaked Plame's identity, according to lawyers involved in the case. He had interviewed three other reporters about their conversations with Libby, but all three indicated he either did not discuss Plame or did not reveal her identity."

More recently, however: "The prosecutors have appeared keen to see if they can fill in some gaps in Rove's memory about how he learned about Plame, and they have repeatedly asked witnesses if Rove told them how he knew about Plame. Rove testified early in the investigation that his information about Plame came from Novak, his attorney said. Rove testified he also may have heard about her from another reporter or administration official who had heard it from a reporter, but he could not recall the second source of his information, his attorney said."

Douglas Frantz, Sonni Efron and Richard B. Schmitt write in the Los Angeles Times: "The special prosecutor in the CIA leak investigation has shifted his focus from determining whether White House officials violated a law against exposing undercover agents to determining whether evidence exists to bring perjury or obstruction of justice charges, according to people briefed in recent days on the inquiry's status."

Where We Stand

Scott Shane reminds readers of the New York Times about how the story unfolded and provides some context: "Ten weeks had passed since Mr. Bush's speech aboard an aircraft carrier, before a banner declaring 'Mission Accomplished.' And the president was being criticized by Democrats as taunting Iraqi insurgents a few days earlier by using the phrase 'Bring 'em on.' Behind the scenes, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council were skirmishing over who would take the blame for inaccurate intelligence."

John D. McKinnon, Christopher Cooper and Anne Marie Squeo write in the Wall Street Journal: "Questions about the outcome of a federal probe into the leaking of a CIA agent's identity could linger into the fall, creating a long stretch of uncertainty for President Bush and his team on a sensitive topic.

"There is no sign Mr. Bush himself has sustained much damage yet, and thus far, the complications for the White House aren't great. But Democrats are sure to try to use the time to sow doubts about the president's team and erode his public support, already damaged by the conflict in Iraq and high gasoline prices."

Left and Right Blogosphere Check

From the left, the attack: Americablog's John Aravosis writes: "McClellan said two years ago that Bush 'knows' that Karl Rove wasn't involved in the leak. That means that Bush either relied on McClellan's public statements that Rove had told McClellan he wasn't involved, and Rove lied, or that Bush talked to Rove and Rove lied to the president as well, or that Bush knew the truth and permitted his staff to lie. In the best case scenario for Bush, Rove lied to White House staff about the scandal and let them go public with that lie. How does the president tolerate this?"

From the right, the defense: Andy McCarthy in National Review Online's Corner: "There is no credible suggestion at this point that President Bush is EVADING anything. He encouraged the investigation, he made statements about taking action against wrongdoers, and he has repeatedly said he wants the independent counsel to press ahead because he wants to know what happened. He has also sat for an interview himself and encouraged everyone in his administration to be cooperative."

Legacy of Watergate

Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus spoke with CNN's Lou Dobbs on Friday.

Dobbs asked about the frustration expressed by a Bush critic: "Do you believe that there is a basis for his frustration with how long it's taken for the White House to act?"

Pincus replied: "Well, I think there always is. It's one of these cases where something goes on in the White House and the president either knows about it or doesn't know about it.

"And what's really happened since Watergate is once there's sort of a sniff of a scandal, everybody closes down. You don't really have an internal investigation, because whoever does the investigation can be called up to Congress or called into a grand jury, as in the case here. So people just sit by and wait. The president said he wants people to come forward. And we'll see. And we now have to wait for a very careful prosecutor to finish his investigation."