"Damage control" has a precise meaning.
Surely even you can see that, after days of the Left and the media howling about "frog marching" Rove to prison for treason, that they are now grasping at straws?
Accusations of a coordinated White House campaign to destroy Wilson fell apart in the face of inconvenient facts, like the press having initiated the conversations, the information having been already widely known, a reporter sitting in jail for protecting someone who isn't Rove.
Then there are the briefs filed by the media with the court to prove that no crimes had been committed.
More on this here.