Fueling the fire...

[El Blanco]

I believe what he means is that if there is a big stink over that and Rove is exonerated, he becomes a martyr of the Evil Left Wing Media. Most people don't really understand whats going on (even we can't get a decent interpretation of the events). All they see is Karl Rove being accused of some serious stuff. If he is aquitted or the case is dropped etc etc, it looks like a witch hunt.

Anything else he is accused of, no matter how credible, becomes just more petty attacks that the public will view as the act of a small defeated left.