WHITE HOUSE Federal attorney takes over leak probe

Critics are continuing their calls for an independent prosecutor.
COMBINED DISPATCHES
WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department tapped Chicago's chief federal prosecutor Tuesday to lead the first criminal investigation into the Bush administration after Attorney General John Ashcroft removed himself from the politically sensitive probe into the leak of the identity of a CIA operative.
While some Democrats applauded the decision, several presidential hopefuls attacked the appointment of a federal prosecutor to take over the investigation.
Although the decision to assign the case to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald fell short of appointing an outside counsel who is fully independent of the Justice Department, the move drew praise from some Democrats who have for months called on Ashcroft to recuse himself from the case.
The move also was a clear signal, according to former senior Justice Department officials, that the investigation was gaining significant momentum. But many questions remained unanswered, including whether Fitzgerald would retain senior investigators already on the case or replace some or all of them with his own team.
Deputy Attorney General James Comey announced that Ashcroft had stepped aside to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest after reviewing evidence recently developed in the inquiry. He would not discuss the evidence.
Reactions
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota called the announcement "as welcome as it is overdue."
"For the sake of America's national security, I hope the administration will give the new counsel its full cooperation and the resources needed to quickly get to the bottom of this urgent matter and swiftly bring to justice the person or persons responsible," he said.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Ashcroft made the right decision.
"Our intelligence agents need to know that we understand the sacrifices they make and that we will come to their defense when someone puts them at risk," said Rockefeller, D-W.Va.
But the Democratic presidential contenders made clear that the decision will be a campaign issue.
"The public will not likely trust the results of an investigation headed by a political appointee, especially when the special counsel is constrained by Department of Justice regulations that severely curtail the prosecutor's autonomy," said Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said Justice Department lawyers still will be answering to a political appointee despite the change.
"Whether it is a special counsel or the Justice Department inspector general, the American people deserve a person whose honesty, objectivity and fairness are guaranteed to investigate this serious matter," Dean said.
'Far too late'
North Carolina Sen. John Edwards did not criticize the appointment, but said Ashcroft's decision "comes far too late. President Bush knows how to get what he wants inside his White House, yet for months, his administration has somehow failed to find the person responsible for this dangerous and destructive leak."
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry called Fitzgerald's appointment "a half measure and nowhere good enough to restore public confidence in this tarnished agency."
He said Comey and Fitzgerald "are both Bush political appointees and carry the same baggage as John Ashcroft."
Although Ashcroft had said that he was keeping his options open on how to proceed, he has repeatedly stated that the case could be handled in a professional and impartial manner by his office, despite the fact that the White House is under investigation.
What triggered probe
The White House first disclosed Sept. 30 that it was the subject of a criminal investigation into the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity.
The leak came just days after the operative's husband, former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson, publicly cast doubt on the Bush administration's case for war against Iraq.
Wilson had traveled to Africa early in 2002 on a special mission to investigate claims that Saddam Hussein's regime was attempting to buy uranium, claims that were based largely on bogus intelligence but nonetheless ended up in Bush's State of the Union address last January.
Days after The New York Times published an opinion-page piece authored by Wilson on July 6, in which he said intelligence "was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat," conservative newspaper columnist Robert Novak disclosed that Wilson is married to Valerie Plame, whom he described as a "CIA operative on weapons of mass destruction."
Novak based his report, published July 14, on what he called "two senior administration officials."