The Left Gets Scrooged!

So much for the lefties much-anticipated "FitzMas!"

Rove won't be charged in CIA leak case

By TONI LOCY, Associated Press Writer Tue Jun 13, 5:31 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Presidential adviser Karl Rove won't be a criminal defendant in the
CIA leak case, but he could still end up being grilled in court as a witness.

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald could question Rove about whether the Bush administration compromised a CIA officer's identity to retaliate against a political critic.

Still, Rove and the White House could breathe a sigh of relief Tuesday after the prosecutor told Rove's lawyer he wouldn't seek a federal indictment against the political operative.

Rove has been identified as a likely defense witness in next year's trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President
Dick Cheney's former chief of staff. Libby has been charged with lying to the
FBI and a federal grand jury about how he learned about
Valerie Plame's CIA status and what he told reporters about it.

If Libby's defense attorneys summon Rove to testify, Fitzgerald can cross-examine him about a host of issues, including a July 2003 conversation Rove had with syndicated columnist Robert Novak days before Novak published Plame's name.