Rove makes 5th appearance before grand jury

WASHINGTON — Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser, testified for the fifth time Wednesday before a grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA operative's identity.

Rove left the federal courthouse in Washington after spending three hours and made no statements.

Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald "has affirmed that he has made no decision concerning charges," Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, said in a statement. Fitzgerald "has advised Mr. Rove that he is not a target of the investigation."

Rove's appearance before the panel in Washington was requested by Fitzgerald, according to a person familiar with the case. The former Utahn's testimony was sought in connection with contacts between Luskin, of Patton Boggs LLP, and former Time magazine reporter Viveca Novak, the person said.

Novak disclosed last year that she may have alerted Luskin in 2004 about Rove's conversation with another Time reporter, who told the grand jury about an interview he conducted with Rove in July 2003. Rove, a deputy White House chief of staff, initially didn't disclose his discussion with the reporter, Matthew Cooper, as the prosecutor was conducting his investigation into who leaked the name of Central Intelligence Agency operative Valerie Plame.

Novak wrote in Time last December that Luskin later told her that, as a result of their conversation in the first half of 2004, he searched for more evidence.

Luskin subsequently turned over to prosecutors an e-mail written by Rove detailing a July 11, 2003, conversation he had with Cooper. Rove made a return appearance before the grand jury, his fourth, last October. Novak wrote that Fitzgerald later interviewed her about her conversation with Luskin.

The questioning of Rove today focused entirely the Novak- Luskin discussions and the production of the e-mail, according the person familiar with Rove's case. He was asked about why he didn't recall his conversations with Cooper at previous grand jury appearances.

At the White House, Press Secretary Scott McClellan declined to comment, saying, "I have no new information on the matter."

Rove, 55, was relieved of his oversight of White House policy development last week in an administration realignment orchestrated by Bush's new chief of staff, Joshua Bolten. He was given the task of focusing on political strategy as Republicans try to hold on to their congressional majorities in the November elections and Bush's approval rating is at or near record lows in most national polls.