WASHINGTON — Top White House aide Karl Rove has been told by prosecutors he won't be charged with any crimes in the investigation into leak of a CIA officer's identity, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Robert Luskin said that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald informed him of the decision Monday, ending months of speculation about the fate of one of President George W. Bush's closest advisers. Rove testified five times before a grand jury.

Fitzgerald has already secured a criminal indictment against Vice-President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis (Scooter) Libby.

"On June 12, 2006, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald formally advised us that he does not anticipate seeking charges against Karl Rove,'' Luskin said in a statement.

"In deference to the pending case, we will not make any further public statements about the subject matter of the investigation,'' Luskin said.

"We believe the special counsel's decision should put an end to the baseless speculation about Mr. Rove's conduct.''

Fitzgerald has been investigating whether senior administration officials intentionally leaked the identity of CIA undercover operative Valerie Plame in retribution because her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, sharply criticized the administration's pursuit of war in Iraq.

Rove, who most recently appeared before a grand jury in April, has admitted he spoke with columnist Robert Novak and Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper in the days before they published Plame's name in July 2003.

Rove, however, did not originally tell prosecutors about his conversation with Cooper, only revealing it after his lawyer discovered a White House e-mail that referred to it.

Fitzgerald was investigating whether Rove lied or obstructed justice in failing to initially disclose the conversation. The presidential aide blamed a faulty memory and sought to testify before the grand jury after finding the e-mail to correct his testimony.

The threat of indictment had hung over Rove, the man Bush dubbed "the architect'' of his re-election, even as Rove was focusing on the arduous task of halting Bush's popularity spiral and keeping Democrats from capturing the House or Senate in November elections.