Tuesday, November 29, 2005

WASHINGTON — Intrigue deepened over the CIA leak scandal clouding the White House on Monday, after Time magazine said special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald had demanded testimony from another of its reporters.

The magazine said that Washington correspondent Viveca Novak would testify under oath about her conversations with Robert Luskin, lawyer for White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove.

The revelation seemed to indicate Fitzgerald was still aggressively probing Rove, President George W Bush's closest political aide, a scenario sure to dent White House's hopes for a swift end to the damaging affair.

Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide I Lewis "Scooter" Libby has already denied five counts of obstruction of justice, perjury and making false statements, arising from the probe into the outing of CIA spy Valerie Plame.

The probe has helped to drive Bush's approval ratings to historic lows, and focused scrutiny on his administration's rationale for war with Iraq.

Novak's testimony comes as Washington chews over the revelation that Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, who helped bring down President Richard Nixon over the Watergate scandal, had also been sucked into the CIA leak storm.

Woodward said two weeks ago he had testified to the probe and that a "source" told him in June 2003 about Plame — setting off a guessing game in Washington as to the secret official's identity.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Russell Wilcox is a retired college professor who spends several months in Florida and several months in Rhode Island each year, and whose interests include boating and sailing, political activism, ballroom dancing and bridge. He has an MBA from Harvard, a Computer Systems CAGS from Bryant and a BS from Northeastern. He has worked in industry for EG&G and Texas Instruments, operated his own business with more than 200 employees, and served as Director of the Computer Information Systems Program for Stonehill College. He is a published author of two technical studies, and is the proud father of four children and the proud grandfather of six grandchildren. A holder of two patents in microchip connections and a true product of the melting pot, his father is the son of a Yankee farmer, and his mother the second generation daughter of Italian immigrants who retained their culture, but strove mightily to become Americans, sending four sons to fight against Hitler and Mussolini.