Did someone feel a chill?

From the Boston Globe:

The U.S. Democrats show an unusual amount of backbone...

Democrats, who have urged Bush to fire Rove or revoke his classified clearance, stepped up political pressure on Republicans on Monday by calling for a formal congressional investigation of the Plame leak.

"The United States Congress has a constitutional responsibility to provide oversight of the executive branch, whether a law has been broken or not," the 26 senators said in a letter.

...and are rewarded with self-serving Republican politicking sinking to remarkable depths:

(Pat Roberts spokeswoman Sarah) Little said the Senate committee would also review the probe of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who has been investigating the Plame case for nearly two years.

While the committee will ostensibly be investigating the behaviour of the White House as the primary goal, it isn't hard to see where this is going.

Will Republicans Fitzgerald and Larry Johnson be slammed for partisanship against Bushco? Will the "national security" angle be used to tighten up legitimate flows of information rather than to demand accountability from political leakers?

And are the answers so obvious that it's not even worth asking the questions?

(Via Daily Kos.)

Edit: The Suburban Guerrilla points out a comment on Kos suggesting that the Republicans will grant full immunity to the White House staff under investigation. Rove may well have some tricks up his sleeve yet.