W. House Denies Leaking CIA Name

The White House denied Monday that it had any role in leaking classified information about the identity of a CIA operative whose husband was a critic of the administration.

The naming of the intelligence officer's identity by conservative columnist Robert Novak came shortly after her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, undermined Mr. Bush's claim that Iraq had tried to buy uranium in Africa.

Senior White House Correspondent John Roberts reports both the FBI and the Justice Department's counter-espionage division are now investigating the leak of the agent's name -- a federal crime that could endanger the agent and compromise her contacts.

Wilson has publicly blamed Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's top political adviser, for the leak, although Wilson did say Monday he did not know whether Rove personally was the source of Novak's information, only that he thought Rove had "condoned it."

"I have a very reputable source who told me that all of this had been condoned by Karl Rove himself - or at a minimum - not stopped by him for a full week after the story was circulating," Wilson told Roberts.

"He wasn't involved," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said of Rove. "The president knows he wasn't involved. ... It's simply not true."

Novak said Monday on CNN that "nobody in the Bush administration called me to leak this."

He said he learned the operative's identity while he was interviewing "a senior administration official." The CIA confirmed the information, Novak said, and "asked me not to use her name but never indicated it would endanger her or anybody else."

He added, "Mrs. Wilson was an analyst, not a spy or a covert operative and not in charge of covert operatives." He attributed all the fuss over the incident to "pure Bush bashing. There's no great crime involved here," he said.

A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said FBI officials are trying to determine whether there was a violation of the law and, if so, then whether a full-blown criminal investigation is warranted, the official said.

"It's a serious matter and it should be looked into," McClellan said.

McClellan urged anyone with information about the alleged leak to contact with Justice Department. "The president expects everyone in his administration to adhere to the highest standards of conduct," McClellan said. "No one would be authorized to do such a thing."

Asked whether Mr. Bush should fire any official found to have leaked the information, McClellan said: "They should be pursued to the fullest extent by the Department of Justice. The president expects everyone in his administration to adhere to the highest standards of conduct — and that would not be."

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the matter should be investigated from someone outside the Bush administration.

"If there was ever a case that demanded a special counsel, this is it," he said.

The Justice Department had no immediate comment on Schumer's request.

From the presidential campaign trail, other Democrats called for independent probes.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said Ashcroft should recuse himself from an investigation, which Dean believes should be handled by an "independent Justice Department inspector general."

Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., called for a congressional investigation into whether the administration leaked the identity of an undercover CIA officer. "There's nothing that says Congress cannot carry out this investigation," he said. "I don't think we can leave this to the administration's own Justice Department."

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said an independent, non-partisan counsel should investigate. "It is a moral outrage that multiple White House officials are alleged to have done so for political revenge. It would be scandalous if such acts were a reaction to the public's conclusion that the president has used 16 misleading words in his State of the Union address last January."

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., also called for a special counsel. "Too many questions exist to risk allowing any potential for political intervention," he said.

The flap began in January when Mr. Bush said in his State of the Union address that British intelligence officials had learned that Iraq had tried to purchase yellowcake uranium in Africa.

In an opinion piece published in July by The New York Times, Wilson said he told the CIA long before Mr. Bush's address that the British reports were suspect and the administration has since said the assertion should not have been in Bush's speech.

A week after Wilson went public with his criticism Novak, quoting anonymous government sources, said Wilson's wife was a CIA operative working on the issue of weapons of mass destruction.

The Washington Post on Sunday quoted an unidentified senior administration official as saying two top White House officials called at least a half-dozen journalists and revealed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife. Wilson had said in a late August speech in Seattle that he suspected Rove, but on Monday he backtracked somewhat from that assertion.

"I did not mean at that time to imply that I thought that Karl Rove was the source or the authorizer, just that I thought that it came from the White House, and Karl Rove was the personification of the White House political operation," Wilson said in a telephone interview.

But then he added: "I have people, who I have confidence in, who have indicated to me that he (Rove), at a minimum, condoned it and certainly did nothing to put a stop to it for a week after it was out there.

"Among the phone calls I received were those that said `White House sources are saying that it's not about the 16 words, it's about Wilson and his wife.' And two people called me up and specifically mentioned Rove's name," he said.

Wilson said that neither he or his wife had been contacted by the Justice Department, or the White House.