KEYSTONE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION

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Top administration officials were hoping to mend some fences with gay and lesbian elected officials at a meeting Tuesday, after alienating them last week with the Justice Department's decision to stay out of a Supreme Court case on gay rights. Instead, the White House must now apologize all over again. The officials at the meeting -- including state senators and representatives, city council members and judges -- say some of the Secret Service agents present wore rubber gloves, apparently trying to protect themselves from being infected by the HIV virus. "It's safe to say the chief of staff (Leon Panetta) and others were distressed by that and believe it to be an error of judgment," White House spokesman Mike McCurry said today. The Treasury Department, which oversees the Secret Service, is looking into the incident.