Democrats and their allies have sought to push the leak to the fore, while Republicans have been on the defensive.  In a July 13 the DNC launched a "come clean" petition, and DNC Chairman Gov. Howard Dean stated, "Politics drove someone in the White House to do a treacherous, potentially criminal thing: a senior administration official leaked the identity of a covert CIA operative. They endangered the agent's life and compromised our national security in a time of war."  Meanwhile RNC Chairmain Ken Mehlman said in a July 12 statement, "The bottom line is Karl Rove was discouraging a reporter from writing a false story based on a false premise and the Democrats are engaging in blatant partisan political attacks."  President Bush himself, in response to a reporter's question following a cabinet meeting on July 13, stated, "I also will not prejudge the investigation based on media reports.  We're in the midst of an ongoing investigation, and I will be more than happy to comment further once the investigation is completed."   (Below) Tom Mattzie is Washington Director of MoveOn.org.