White House officials on Saturday mulled their strategy in a mushrooming controversy over federal prosecutor firings, after they changed key details in their defense of the dismissals.
The increasingly sharp dispute adds to the headaches in a White House already laboring under the unpopular Iraq war, grim reports of poor health care for veterans, and the conviction of a former top aide in a CIA leak case.
And CBS News late Friday quoted unnamed informed sources as saying that the firing of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales over the controversy was just "a matter of time."
In a move that could set the stage for a battle with Congress, US President George W. Bush's government lawyer said Friday he needed until Tuesday to decide whether top officials would testify before lawmakers on the issue.
That angered Democrats at a time when they have been calling for Gonzales to resign or be fired, joined by some Republicans while others in Bush's party stopped short but warned they have lost confidence in the attorney general.
With the pressure mounting, White House spokesman Tony Snow cautiously downplayed speculation about Gonzales's future and declined to say whether top Bush aides, including political guru Karl Rove, would testify before Congress.
"There are ongoing conversations" with Democrats, who have warned they are prepared to subpoena Rove and others to force them to discuss the controversy under oath, said Snow.
Late Thursday, newly released electronic mail suggested that Rove had played a bigger role in the mass firing than the White House had claimed earlier -- leading Democrats to redouble their efforts to secure White House testimony.
Last month, aides to Gonzales had insisted that the eight ousted prosecutors had been fired for performance reasons and that then-incoming White House counsel Harriet Miers had first raised the idea -- quickly shot down -- of removing all 93 US Attorneys after Bush's 2004 reelection.
Snow, who earlier this week passed along those claims, carefully backed off during two briefings with reporters on Friday, explaining that "at this juncture, people have hazy memories."
"I want to try to err on the side of caution by noting that Karl (Rove) had a recollection that she (Miers) had mentioned it to him, and that's really as far as we can go with it," said Snow. "He thought it was a bad idea."
On the question of whether the firings were because of poor job performance, Snow declared "I'm not going to be the fact witness" but hinted that it would be enough to resist Bush policies "for reasons of conscience or whatever."
"Loyalty to the President means doing your job and faithfully carrying out the priorities of the administration," he said, saying that it would be enough to disagree on "something like the death penalty or pornography statutes."
Asked whether Bush might have ordered the firings, Snow said "anything is possible" but emphasized "I don't think so" and went on: "I want you to be clear here. Don't be dropping it at the president's feet."
Critics have charged that some of them were fired for political reasons, noting that one, Carol Lam in California, played a central role in a major corruption case that led to a prison term for a Republican congressman and may have led to the resignation of a top CIA official.
Another was the target of complaints by Republican elected officials that eventually reached Bush, who has denied ordering the removal of any specific US attorneys.
White House officials deny any wrongdoing, noting that Bush praised the investigation and conviction of the Republican congressman, Randall "Duke" Cunningham.
Snow also brushed aside talk of Gonzales resigning and, when asked Friday whether Bush would fire the attorney general, carefully replied "I know of no such plan."
