Tacit approval? In case you’re just tuning in: The syndicated column in which Robert Novak outed secret agent Valerie Plame was published in July 2003, but the investigation into whether Novak’s treasonous-ish “reporting” was, in fact, flacking for the White House did not begin until two months later. This gave Team Bush eight weeks or so to shred documents, delete emails and get its story together.

Two years and two months later, just about all that remains on the record about President Bush’s participation in the alleged cover-up comes down to this:

In the hours before the Justice Department informed the White House in late September 2003 that it would investigate the leak of a covert C.I.A. officer’s identity, Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, gave reporters what turned out to be a rare glimpse into President Bush’s knowledge of the case.

Mr. Bush, he said, “knows” that Karl Rove, his senior adviser, had not been the source of the leak. Pressed on how Mr. Bush was certain, Mr. McClellan said he was “not going to get into conversations that the president has with advisers,” but made no effort to erase the impression that Mr. Rove had assured Mr. Bush that he had not been involved.

Since then, administration officials and Mr. Bush himself have carefully avoided disclosing anything about any involvement the president may have had in the events surrounding the disclosure of the officer’s identity or anything about what his aides may have told them about their roles. Citing the continuing investigation and now the pending trial of [Scooter Libby], they have declined to comment on almost any aspect of the case.

The issue now for the White House is how long it can go on deflecting the inquiries and trying to keep the focus away from Mr. Bush.