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Top White House aide Karl Rove has been told by prosecutors he won’t be charged with any crimes in the investigation into leak of a CIA officer’s identity, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Attorney Robert Luskin said that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald informed him of the decision on Monday, ending months of speculation about the fate of one of President Bush’s closest advisers. Rove testified five times before a grand jury.

[NBC News | June 13, 2006]

It has been a month since Karl Rove’s fifth appearance before the federal grand jury investigating the CIA leak case. Media outlets are reporting developments regarding Karl Rove’s standing vis-a-vis the investigation.

Novak Told Rove He Would Protect Him

“On September 29, 2003, three days after it became known that the CIA had asked the Justice Department to investigate who leaked the name of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame, columnist Robert Novak telephoned White House senior adviser Karl Rove to assure Rove that he would protect him from being harmed by the investigation, according to people with firsthand knowledge of the federal grand jury testimony of both men,” Murray Waas reports in the National Journal.

Prosecutors Say Silence in CIA Leak Case May Signal Rove Indictment Coming

MSNBC’s coverage of the CIA leak case continued Wednesday with new suggestions that presidential adviser Karl Rove may yet be indicted. The indictment of ‘Bush’s Brain’ seemed imminent after reports from MSNBC and the Washington Post indicating that the Rove camp expected a decision earlier this month — but it has now been 28 days since Rove testified for a fifth time before the grand jury investigating the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame.

MSNBC’s David Shuster says former federal prosecutors believe the silence from Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald doesn’t bode well for Rove.

“Fitzgerald’s office refuses to comment,” Shuster said. “But former federal prosecutors describe the following procedure when considering an indictment: First, a prosecution team would review the evidence. Then, they would examine case law on the relevant criminal statutes. And finally, the prosecutors would decide whether a reasonable jury would convict at trial.”

RawStory is reporting that “[r]eporters at the major cable television networks plan to be on the ground Friday outside a federal district court where the jury considering the fate of President Bush’s senior adviser Karl Rove. No formal indication has been given of Rove’s status, though lawyers close to the [Valerie Plame CIA leak] case have said his fate is likely to be determined soon.”

Earlier this week, MSNBC’s David Shuster stated: “I am convinced that Karl Rove will, in fact, be indicted.”

Others have also been speculating that Rove will be indicted “this week or early next.”

Chris Matthews on Karl Rove’s Possible Indictment: “It could be today.” [Don Imus Show | Friday, May 12, 2006]

Karl Rove: Foggy Memory or Fabrications? [Washington Post News Service | May 12, 2006]

Rove Informs White House He Will Be Indicted [Truthout | May 12, 2006]