Ashcroft bows out of CIA leak probe

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General John Ashcroft removed himself Tuesday from the investigation into whether the Bush administration leaked a CIA operative's name to a newspaper columnist, and a career federal prosecutor from Chicago was named as special counsel to take over.

In a move cheered by Democrats, Deputy Attorney General James Comey announced that Ashcroft had stepped aside to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest after reviewing evidence recently developed in the inquiry. He would not specify the nature of that evidence.

Comey said U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald in Chicago, a veteran of terrorism and political corruption cases, would take over as a special prosecutor and would be given "the tools to conduct a completely independent investigation."

"He has the power and authority to make whatever prosecutive judgments he believes are appropriate without having to come back to me or anybody else at the Justice Department for approvals," Comey said.

Comey, however, will retain ultimate authority over Fitzgerald as the acting attorney general for the case. Comey rejected choosing a complete outsider to be the special counsel.

Investigators want to know who leaked the name of Valerie Plame, an undercover CIA officer, to syndicated columnist Robert Novak in July. Plame is married to former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, who has said he believes his wife's identity was disclosed to discredit his assertions that the Bush administration exaggerated Iraq's nuclear capabilities to build a case for war.

The leaker could be charged with a felony if identified. The FBI has interviewed more than three dozen Bush administration officials, including political adviser Karl Rove and press secretary Scott McClellan.

Fitzgerald, 43, who recently handled the corruption indictment of ex-Illinois Gov. George Ryan, was hailed by Comey as an "Eliot Ness with a Harvard law degree and a sense of humor."

With an election year approaching, a vacationing President Bush welcomed the decision from his ranch in Crawford, Texas. The president "wants to get to the bottom of this," White House spokesman Trent Duffy said.

Democrats, who for months demanded Ashcroft step aside from the politically sensitive probe, likewise applauded the decision.

"It's (like) a special counsel in every way if you combine the independence he has with the fact that Comey promised me that he would report to Congress if anyone blocked the investigation," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., an early critic of the probe and a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Comey would not specify what prompted Ashcroft's decision, which the administration previously had resisted. But he said "it is not one of actual conflict of interest that arises normally when someone has a financial interest or something. The issue that he was concerned about was one of appearance. And I can't go beyond that."

The department's No. 2 official, Comey said he considered and rejected an outside counsel because Fitzgerald has the prosecutorial experience and the knowledge of national security matters that make him "the perfect man for this job."

Further, Fitzgerald is prepared to assume command without delay and can retain the career prosecutors and FBI agents who have handled the probe so far, or he can make changes in the team, Comey said.

In the case of Ryan, Fitzgerald's investigation led to the indictment this month of the former Illinois governor. Ryan, a Republican who pleaded innocent, was charged with 22 counts of corruption, including taking free vacations, tax fraud, lying to federal agents and skimming cash out of his own campaign fund.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Ashcroft made the right decision. "Our intelligence agents need to know that we understand the sacrifices they make and that we will come to their defense when someone puts them at risk," he said.

Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota called the announcement "as welcome as it is overdue."

"While I am heartened Attorney General Ashcroft finally acceded to this request, it is important to note that today's announcement does not represent the end of this process but the beginning. For the sake of America's national security, I hope the Administration will give the new counsel its full cooperation and the resources needed to quickly get to the bottom of this urgent matter and swiftly bring to justice the person or persons responsible."

Wilson said he had no idea why Ashcroft chose to recuse himself now. He speculated that Ashcroft, who has long ties to members of the president's staff, simply wanted to make sure that any findings at the end of the investigation are not tainted by even the suspicion of conflict of interest.

"I would have no idea whether a report has emerged that led him to recuse himself," Wilson said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "I have always said, as some senators have argued, that the administration needed to take a good hard look at this."

He declined to express satisfaction over Ashcroft's recusal.

"It's not a question of whether I'm happy about it," he said. "The crime that was committed was not committed against me or my wife, but against my country. It's the country that's the victim in this."