No Charges for Karl Rove

Presidential adviser Karl Rove reportedly won't be charged in the investigation of who leaked the identity of a CIA agent to the press three years ago.

Rove, who testified repeatedly before a grand jury in the probe by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, was in danger of indictment after failing to tell prosecutors of discussions with a reporter who published the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame. He blamed a memory omission.

According to media outlets, Rove's lawyer released a statement reading: "On June 12, 2006, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald formally advised us that he does not anticipate seeking charges against Karl Rove.

"In deference to the pending case, we will not make any further public statements about the subject matter of the investigation. We believe that the Special Counsel's decision should put an end to the baseless speculation about Mr. Rove's conduct," the statement read.

On Oct. 28, Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, was charged with lying to a grand jury during the investigation of possible intelligence leaks. At the time, Rove remained under investigation.

Libby was charged after a two-year investigation into how reporters came to know that Plame, the wife of a congressional opponent of the Iraq war, was a CIA operative. Administration critics have suggested her name was leaked as part of a broader campaign to discredit the war's opposition.

Fitzgerald was appointed in December 2003 by the attorney general's office to investigate the circumstances under which Plame's name was disseminated. A focus of the probe quickly became the truthfulness of statements made by witnesses testifying before the grand jury.