Gonzales steps aside from CIA leak probe

[Neil D]

[:"blue"] This is treasonous. A leak of a CIA operative seems to be coming from the White House and no one is investigating. Ashcroft didn't. Now Gonzales isn't. Seems to me that there is a good [or bad] reason for that....Here is another scandel from your friend, GW Bush that is not being looked into....This gives politics it's reputation ..[/]

Friday, February 11, 2005 Posted: 5:57 PM EST (2257 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has stepped aside from the Justice Department investigation into the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity.

Gonzales had been involved in the case as White House legal counsel, testifying before a federal grand jury and giving advice about it to White House personnel.

He recused himself from the matter shortly after he was sworn in as attorney general last week, Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said Friday.

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft had also removed himself from any role in the investigation.

Investigators want to find out who leaked the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame, whose name was published in July 2003 by syndicated columnist Robert Novak.

The investigation is being run by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago, who was appointed special counsel with broad decision-making latitude and reports to Deputy Attorney General James Comey.

Plame is married to former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who has said his wife's name may have been revealed as retribution for a newspaper opinion piece he wrote criticizing President Bush's claim that Iraq had sought uranium in Niger.

Wilson was asked by the CIA to check out that claim.

The leak investigation is in its second year with no charges brought.

Fitzgerald is battling with reporters from Time magazine and The New York Times for access to their confidential sources, which a federal judge has ruled they must divulge or face possible jail time.

The reporters have appealed the ruling.