Will Rove step down?

Reuters makes the following assertion in a story about the possibility of federal indictments against Karl Rove and I. Lewis Libby in the Plame leak investigation:

White House officials were bracing for the possibility of bad news from the inquiry. It seemed clear Rove would have to step down, at least temporarily, if indicted.

It is not clear by any means that Rove would have to step down if indicted. This would be a fair assumption to make if he were convicted, but merely indicted? It is helpful to remember the president's standard of proof for removing from the White House any perpetrators in this case.

From The Washington Post, July 18, 2005:

As an investigation by a special prosecutor has continued, a lawyer for Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove has acknowledged that Rove told a Time magazine reporter that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA. But the attorney has insisted that Rove, one of Bush's top advisers and a chief political strategist, did not mention Plame by name.

Asked whether he still intends to fire anyone involved in the leak case "regardless of whether a crime was committed" and whether he was displeased that Rove told a reporter that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA, Bush said: "We have a serious ongoing investigation here. And it's being played out in the press. And I think it's best that people wait until the investigation is complete before you jump to conclusions. I will do so as well. I don't know all the facts, and I want to know all the facts."

Bush added, "I would like this to end as quickly as possible so we know the facts. And if someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration."

The president did not mention Rove in his answer or address the question of whether he was displeased with him. Also left unspecified was whether an indictment in the case would trigger the firing of an official, or whether that would require a conviction.

This, of course, remains unspecified.

Realize also that the conventional wisdom is that Rove might be indicted for giving false or incomplete information to federal investigators, not necessarily for leaking Plame's name. Anyone who thinks that Bush, abetted by the right wing noise machine, will not exploit this technicality in defending Rove has not been paying attention to the way this president operates.