Karl Rove Watch
Howard Fineman writes in Newsweek: "Beyond the Beltway, voters fret about tangible matters: the war in Iraq, the direction of the economy, the price of a tank of gasoline or heating oil. In the capital, however, the obsession is the Karl Question. If Bush is to rebuild his battered presidency, it is hard to see him doing it without the man he calls 'Boy Genius.' But even if Rove is never indicted, he has some explaining to do. White House aides predict that Rove will talk when the probe is completed. 'There's no one more willing to do that than Karl,' said one aide who requested anonymity because Rove is still in power."
Mike Allen writes in Time: "He's weary. His wife and only child, who is approaching college, miss him. He has monstrous legal bills. His unique bond with the President is under stress. His most important work is done.
"Karl Rove's colleagues don't know exactly when it will happen, but they are already laying out the reasons they will give for the departure of the man President George W. Bush dubbed the architect. A Roveless Bush seemed unthinkable just a few months ago. But that has changed as the President's senior adviser and deputy chief of staff remains embroiled in the CIA leak scandal."
Allen adds: "If he leaves, he will not be alone. Several well-wired Administration officials predict that within a year, the President will have a new chief of staff and press secretary, probably a new Treasury Secretary and maybe a new Defense Secretary."
David Gregory, appearing on "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert , said White House officials "told me this week, 'Look, the president knows that as long as Karl Rove is there, the president can't speak out. He can't lift the cloud of this leak investigation.' And at some point, the president has to account for his top officials who were involved in this matter whether they committed a crime or not because it may well have been conduct that he wouldn't normally countenance in his White House."
Peter Wallsten and Tom Hamburger write in the Los Angeles Times that even though Rove "is under federal investigation for his role in the exposure of a covert CIA officer, the longtime advisor to President Bush continues to enjoy full access to government secrets.
"That is drawing the attention of intelligence experts and prominent conservatives as a debate brews over whether Rove should retain his top-secret clearance and remain in his post as White House deputy chief of staff -- even as Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald mulls over whether to charge him with a crime in connection with the operative's exposure."
Pardon Watch
Mike Allen and Michael Duffy write in Time: "Although I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby pleaded not guilty in the CIA leak scandal last week -- and brought on a legal team that specializes in winning high-profile public-integrity cases -- the talk in Washington is already whether George W. Bush might pardon the Vice President's former chief of staff if he is convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice or other charges. Republicans involved in the case say the scenario most conducive to a pardon would be a guilty plea by Libby to head off a messy trial in which Dick Cheney's testimony might be sought."
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Intel Watch
Douglas Jehl writes in the New York Times: "A high Qaeda official in American custody was identified as a likely fabricator months before the Bush administration began to use his statements as the foundation for its claims that Iraq trained Al Qaeda members to use biological and chemical weapons, according to newly declassified portions of a Defense Intelligence Agency document. . . .
"Without mentioning him by name, President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Colin L. Powell, then secretary of state, and other administration officials repeatedly cited Mr. Libi's information as 'credible' evidence that Iraq was training Al Qaeda members in the use of explosives and illicit weapons.
"Among the first and most prominent assertions was one by Mr. Bush, who said in a major speech in Cincinnati in October 2002 that 'we've learned that Iraq has trained Al Qaeda members in bomb making and poisons and gases.' "
Walter Pincus has more in The Washington Post.
Impeachment Poll
Back in June, Zogby asked Americans if they agreed or disagreed with the following question:
"If President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment."
An astonishing 42 percent of Americans agreed. (I wrote about that in my July 6 column .)
Since then, no news organizations has expressed any curiosity, and no polling company has decided to ask the question on its own.
But afterdowningstreet.org , a group urging Congress to launch a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war, keeps asking.
In October, they commissioned Ipsos Public Affairs to ask a similar question. That poll found that 50 percent of Americans agreed.
Now, a new Zogby poll commissioned by the group finds that a clear majority -- 53 percent of Americans -- agree with the statement.
Damn the Torpedoes
Kenneth T. Walsh writes in U.S. News: "Far from being chastened by recent setbacks, including the indictment of his chief of staff, Vice President Dick Cheney is thumbing his nose at his critics -- and encouraging President Bush to do the same. . . .
"Cheney is described by White House insiders as combative and eager to rally the GOP faithful. As part of that effort, he will continue to ride the Republican fundraising circuit in advance of next year's midterm elections, as he did last Friday, headlining events in Cincinnati and Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
"Behind the scenes, Cheney is feeding Bush's instinct never to give ground when under attack, White House advisers say, despite rising concern among Republicans that the president doesn't realize the depth of his political trouble."
