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(CNSNews.com) -- Democrats think they've found a way to get rid of President Bush's political adviser Karl Rove, who has long been a favorite target of liberal wrath.

"Karl Rove and his high priced lawyers might disagree, but the truth is Rove betrayed the identity of an undercover officer fighting on the front lines in the war on terror. These actions are particularly egregious in a time of war," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean in a statement released Monday evening.

Dean said President Bush should demonstrate his commitment to the war on terror by holding Rove "accountable."

"It is disturbing that this high-ranking Bush adviser is not only still working in the White House, but now has a significant role in setting our National Security policy," Dean said.

Rove, who serves as deputy White House chief of staff, mentioned a CIA agent in passing, during a July 2003 conversation with Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper.

But Rove's lawyer now tells the Washington Post that Rove did not identify the agent by name and had no intention of "outing" her. (It is illegal to deliberately expose a covert agent whose identity the government is trying to conceal.)

Valerie Plame, the secret agent in question, is the wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a man who publicly challenged the Bush administration's claim that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Niger. Wilson accused the Bush administration of "outing" his wife as retaliation for his criticism.

'Wilson's wife'

Rove reportedly told Cooper that it was "Wilson' wife, who apparently works at the agency" -- who had arranged Wilson's trip to Niger.

A few days later, columnist Robert Novak named Valerie Plame as a CIA operative in a July 2003 column. It was Novak's column that prompted a grand jury investigation into the White House leak.

It's not clear if Rove was also Novak's source. It's also not clear if Rove is a target of the ongoing grand jury investigation

This week, Rove's lawyer told the Washington Post that Rove did not know the name of Wilson's wife when he spoke with Cooper, and he did not mention Wilson's wife to make her identity public. Rove mentioned "Wilson's wife" only to let Cooper know that no one in the Bush administration had sent Wilson to Niger -- and that Time shouldn't believe everything it was hearing from Wilson.

On the other hand, Democrats don't believe anything they're hearing from Rove.

They say his conversation with Time magazine's Cooper "raises a host of new unanswered questions," including:

-- Who told Rove about Wilson's wife? "Rove had to find out about Plame and her job from someone. Where did this information come from? Who else leaked besides Rove?" the DNC is asking.

-- Who in the Bush administration told New York Times reporter Judith Miller about Plame? "The information cannot have come from Rove, since Rove has 'released' Cooper from confidentiality," the DNC said. " If Rove were Miller's source, wouldn't he do the same for her? So who was Miller -- a reporter working on WMDs -- talking to?" (Miller is now serving time in jail for refusing to reveal her confidential source.)

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