The Justice Department announced yesterday that it has begun a full criminal investigation into allegations that Bush administration officials leaked the name of a covert CIA operative to the media. But the White House has rejected calls for an independent counsel even though Bush’s closest aide Karl Rove, who has been accused of having a role in the leak, once served as a consultant to Attorney General John Ashcroft. Rove did campaign work for Ashcroft beginning in 1985 and Rove lobbied for his nomination as Attorney General in 2000. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said “Given allegations about the involvement of senior White House officials and the past close association between the Attorney General and one of those officials, the investigation should be headed by a person independent of the administration.” Nearly three months after officials within the White House outted the operative, White House counsel Alberto Gonzales yesterday ordered the preservation of any documents related to the case. And President Bush asked anybody with information to come forward