WASHINGTON — Presidential advisor Karl Rove was called again before a federal grand jury Wednesday, a surprise appearance signaling that a perjury and obstruction investigation into his role in a CIA leak case remained alive.
As the White House was introducing a new press secretary in an effort to put a new face on a troubled administration, Rove testified for three hours before the grand jury. Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald is investigating whether Rove lied to investigators in connection with the summer 2003 disclosure of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.
The appearance -- Rove's fifth before a grand jury in the case -- comes six months after a previous grand jury expired without indicting Rove, raising expectations among his supporters that he would not be charged in the case.
That grand jury indicted another top Bush administration aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, whose trial on perjury and obstruction charges is to begin in January.
Robert D. Luskin, Rove's lawyer, said Wednesday that Fitzgerald had made no decision on whether to bring charges against Rove.
Some legal experts said the timing and circumstances of Rove's latest testimony, which Luskin said was given "voluntarily and unconditionally," suggested that an indictment might not be imminent and that the development could be viewed as positive for Rove.
Luskin said the subject of Rove's testimony Wednesday involved a matter that had arisen since he last testified in October. It is believed to involve the chain of events that followed a belatedly disclosed conversation between Luskin and a Time magazine reporter about Rove's contact with another Time reporter.
The lawyer added that Fitzgerald had continued to advise Rove that he was not an investigation "target," a legal distinction that refers to a formal notification prosecutors give suspects about to be charged.
Fitzgerald declined to talk to reporters as he left the courthouse.
The grand jury appearance comes a week after the presidential advisor was relieved of his policy responsibilities at the White House to focus on electoral politics.
At the time of the change in Rove's portfolio, White House aides said it was part of a broader reorganization and unrelated to Rove's ongoing legal vulnerability. But the request for him to testify again is believed to have come several weeks ago, and the White House may have been aware that his legal troubles were likely to flare again.
