US President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he would withhold judgment for now on the role of his top political adviser, Karl Rove, in a brewing controversy over who leaked a CIA agent's identity.
Bush stopped short of issuing a public vote of confidence in Rove, as some Republicans had expected.
With Rove seated behind him during a Cabinet meeting, Bush said there was a "serious" federal investigation under way into who leaked the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame and that he would not prejudge the outcome.
A federal prosecutor has been looking into who identified Plame as an agent almost exactly two years ago after her husband, a critic of the invasion of Iraq, went public saying the case for war was exaggerated.
Rove has been named by Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper as one of the sources who identified the agent to the media, before she was named in a newspaper column in July 2003.
However, Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, said in a statement that his client "has been repeatedly assured he is not a target of the investigation" by a special prosecutor into the leak.
It was unclear from news reports whether Rove knew that Plame was undercover, which could make a difference under a law that makes knowingly unmasking a covert agent a crime.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush did not publicly express his confidence in Rove because "he was not asked that specific question," adding that "every person who works here at the White House, including Karl Rove, has the confidence of the president."
Some prominent Democrats have called on Bush to fire Rove, or block his access to classified information. Bush has pledged to dismiss any leakers in the Plame case but has not said whether he would follow through if Rove is found responsible.
"I have instructed every member of my staff to fully cooperate in this investigation. I also will not prejudge the investigation based on media reports," Bush told reporters.
The comments were Bush's first on Rove since reports emerged this week that Rove talked to Cooper about Plame.
Meanwhile, Bush's personal credibility appears to be eroding.
The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed the percentage of Americans who believe Bush is "honest and straightforward" fell to 41 percent from 50 percent in January, while those who say they doubt his veracity climbed to 45 percent from 36 percent.
The telephone poll, which was conducted July 8-11, also showed that Iraq has replaced jobs as the leading issue among Americans.
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