| With Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove seen at left, President Bush speaks during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House |
President Bush says he will withhold judgment for now about top aide Karl Rove's role in the controversy over who leaked a CIA operative's name.
Mr. Bush said Wednesday he would be ready to comment further once an ongoing investigation is completed.
Some prominent Democrats are demanding the president fire Mr. Rove. Mr. Bush had previously pledged to dismiss anyone involved in leaking CIA operative Valerie Plame's name. U.S. law makes it a crime to knowingly unmask a covert CIA agent.
Ms. Plame's husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, had disputed a White House claim concerning alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Mr. Rove talked about Ms. Plame - but did not use her name - in a July 2003 conversation with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper.
Mr. Cooper Wednesday testified before a grand jury investigating the source of the leak.
