Michele Bachmann moves closer to presidential bid

The Minnesota Republican pointedly refuses to deny a report she will form an official exploratory committee by late spring.

Reporting from Des Moines—

In another sign that she is moving closer to a 2012 presidential run, Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann did not deny a report Thursday that she would form a presidential exploratory committee by late spring.

The conservative Minnesotan was on a campaign-style swing through neighboring Iowa, the first caucus state, when CNN reported that she would file papers to form a committee in early June.

In a brief interview before meeting privately with lawmakers at the state Capitol in Des Moines, she repeated her standard line about a 2012 race — that she would decide "by summer" — but pointedly declined to shoot down the CNN report.More