"I am very troubled by the fact that the White House counsel seems to be a gatekeeper, Schumer

WASHINGTON, October 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – U.S. President George W. Bush doubted the senior administration official behind the illegal identification of a CIA agent would be found, as the White House counsel's office sorted through responses from his aides to the Justice Department's request for phone records and other documents.

"I have no idea whether we'll find out who the leaker is -- partially because, in all due respect to your profession, you do a very good job of protecting the leakers," Bush told reporters Tuesday, October 7, after a cabinet meeting at the White House.

"I don't know if we're going to find out the senior administration official," he was quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as saying.

"Now, this is a large administration, and there's a lot of senior officials. I don't have any idea," argued Bush.

The White House has given staff until Tuesday to hand over documents related to leaking the name of Valerie Plame, wife of former ambassador Joseph Wilson who has accused the Bush administration of exaggerating the case for invading Iraq.

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into accusations that one or several White House officials gave Plame's name to the media, which quoted senior administration officials, as an act of revenge against Wilson.

Bush's spokesman Scott McClellan said White House lawyers will sort through the documents to determine which are relevant and will be turned over to the Justice Department.

The White House must turn over all information by October 17, with intermediate deadlines before then.

Under American laws it is illegal to name CIA agents.

Suspects Eliminated

For the first time since the scandal broke 10 days ago, McClellan cited the names of three top White House officials who assured him personally that they were not the source of the leak.

At the briefing, McClellan repeated his categorical denial that Bush's senior adviser Karl Rove, Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff I. Lewis Libby and National Security Council official Elliott Abrams had leaked the information or authorized leaks.

The spokesman said he had spoken directly to the officials, the Washington Post reported.

However, Bush and his spokesman did not rebut reports that White House officials were spreading damaging information about Wilson and his wife, said the daily.

Newsweek reported in its Wednesday issue that Rove referred to Plame as "fair game" in a discussion with Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's "Hardball."

Bush, asked about the "fair game" comment, replied by discussing the leak investigation.

McClellan, in his briefing, also sidestepped several questions about the "fair game" remarks.

Wilson has refuted Bush administration claims that Iraq tried to purchase uranium from Niger, writing in a op-ed piece that U.S. intelligence was "negotiated and calculated" to make the case for war.

Despite this, Bush referred to the alleged purchase of Uranium in his State of the Union address in January.

No Violation

A legal source close to the case was quoted by the Post as saying White House officials are not panicked because they believe that even if officials revealed Plame's name and occupation to reporters, they may not have known she was undercover or may not have intended to expose that fact.

"Someone probably did screw up. But in terms of a violation of criminal law that could lead to a criminal indictment, that seems pretty far-fetched," argued the source.

Senator Charles E. Schumer, who has led Democrats' calls for a special counsel to lead the investigation, complained about the White House's procedures.

"I am very troubled by the fact that the White House counsel seems to be a gatekeeper, and I want to know what precautions Justice is taking to ensure that it gets all relevant information from the administration," he was quoted by the Post as saying.

Bush is facing growing doubts at home about the wisdom of attacking Iraq, as no weapons of mass destruction have been found in the country, raising skepticism the offensive on the oil-rich country was launched on false pretexts.