http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aIhnsS41O3t4&refer=us Rove Won't Be Charged in CIA Leak Investigation, Lawyer Says June 13 (Bloomberg) -- Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's top political adviser, has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing in a three-year investigation into the leak of a CIA agent's name, his lawyer said.
Rove was formally notified by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald yesterday that he will not be indicted in the case, the attorney, Robert Luskin, said in a statement.
The special counsel's decision should put an end to the baseless speculation about Mr. Rove's conduct,'' Luskin said.
Fitzgerald's decision not to pursue criminal charges against Rove removes a legal cloud from Bush's closest political aide, and comes at a time when Bush is trying to halt a slide in public opinion polls ahead of the November congressional elections.
Fitzgerald's decision not to charge Rove also suggests that the final parameters of the case have been drawn, leaving I. Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, as the only person facing charges.
Rove testified five times before federal grand juries investigating the case, most recently on April 26.
No one has been charged with the crime that triggered the special counsel's probe -- whether anyone in the administration violated a 1982 law prohibiting the purposeful disclosure of a Central Intelligence Agency agent's name. Libby has been charged with perjury and obstruction of justice regarding his conversations with reporters about the former CIA agent, Valerie Plame, who is married to a prominent critic of the Iraq war.
The action by the special prosecutor also allows Rove to focus without distraction on his primary professional task of helping improve Republican chances in the mid-term elections.
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