WASHINGTON — Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, came to the defense of a former Utahn Friday, embattled White House adviser and top Bush strategist Karl Rove.

"I really think this is a tempest in a teapot designed to embarrass the president and get back at Karl Rove for being such an effective adviser," Hatch said. "Karl Rove is an exceptional person, and I'm proud that he has Utah ties. I don't believe for a second he would do what his political opponents are accusing him of doing — he is too decent a person, and, frankly, he is too smart."

Rove, a graduate of Olympus High School and a former student at the University of Utah, has been under intense media scrutiny since it was revealed that he e-mailed a New York Times reporter and a Time magazine reporter in an exchange that some believe could have revealed the identity of a covert CIA operative — a violation of federal law.

Through his attorneys, Rove has insisted he did nothing wrong and that he is not the target of a criminal probe.

But Democrats have demanded that he resign, or that President Bush fire him.

"There is no question Karl is a prime target of people looking for political payback because Karl has been so effective at what he does," Hatch said. "So far, indications are that Karl Rove is not the focus of (special counsel Patrick) Fitzpatrick's investigation."

A special prosecutor has requested the White House keep mum on its investigation into who revealed that Valerie Plame, wife of administration critic Joseph Wilson, was an undercover operative for the CIA.

New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed for refusing to reveal the confidential administration source who had talked to her about Plame. Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper avoided incarceration after a source freed him to speak to the grand jury under Fitzgerald's guidance.

Time Inc. turned over Cooper's e-mail and notes and these confirm Rove as one of his sources, The New York Times reported.

In August 2003, Wilson fingered Rove as the culprit who outed his wife, saying, "It's of keen interest to me to see whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs."

Rove, in a CNN interview during last year's Republican National Convention, said, "I didn't know her name and didn't leak her name."

There is now some question as to whether Plame was, in fact, a CIA covert operative at the time her identity was revealed, since she was working at Langley, Va.

"I have always thought there were serious questions as to whether the statute barring disclosure of covert agents' identities has even been violated," Hatch said. "The law says a 'covert agent' must be serving outside the United States, or have done so within the last five years, and that doesn't seem to be the case here."

Hatch said he suspects the investigation may be focusing on the actions of someone other than Rove, "and may involve perjury or obstruction of justice."

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