Has Rove's Egg Hatched? The Firing of KARL ROVE or Why His Family Needs Him Now.

[L. Coyote]

From Jun-08-07: GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY. Is Everyone in the WHITE HOUSE Going to the "OUT" House?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1069515

What constitutes a Hatch Act violation? ANY political activity on USG time, ANY.
It does not matter if it is a dot.gov or rnc.com e-mail if the person is on the clock,
at work in an official capacity. If anything at all is done on a CAMPAIGN it is a
Hatch Act violation. Read ILLEGAL. Read a CRIME. Read getting flushed!!

While researching Tim Griffin---the vote-caging, Rovian, just-resigned, Patriot Act implant
USA in Arkansas---and his vote caging e-mail that landed in the lap of Greg Palast, I noticed
that some of the e-mails had dot.gov addresses AND were being used to conduct campaign business.
This adds one huge illegal dimension to the mis-directed e-mails in addition to voter caging,
Hatch Act violations. Inquiry into the Hatch Act made me aware of the scope of the law's reach.

Here is the "catch-all" georgewbush.org e-mails site I was reading: http://2004.georgewbush.org/deadletteroffice/headers.asp

Example--one to the entire Florida GOP--showing this could impact way more than all the White House personnel:

To: FL GOP COS FloridaGop @mail.house.gov
.... a FL briefing this Thursday, July 22nd at 8:30 AM at the RNC ... with Ken Mehlman and Karl Rove ...

======================
Comments:
With Rove out, it is time to reexamine the e-mails issue in light of the "EVERYONE IS GUILTY" possibility!!!
How many Hatch Act violation are there?
How many other issues are nagging Karl Rove? The USA firings is also likely to have considerable fallout on his shiny dome.

However, the issue that just pushed Rove out is likely Hatch Act and Presidential Records Act violations.
In particular, Rove was the author of the PowerPoint presentation at issue in the Doan investigation.

Here follows a sampling of Rove problems. Most of these are from a single thread, beginning Mar-28-07:
Email-Gate FACTS: Felons, georgewbush.com, gwb43.com , et. al.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x523978

==============================================================================
Abramoff's aide becames Rove executive assistant, and then writes "to help us"
From http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/16977359.htm
and http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/03/27/crooksrus-2

Waxman noted for example that J. Scott Jennings, the White House deputy director of political affairs, used a "gwb43.com" e-mail account last August to discuss the replacement of the U.S. attorney for Arkansas, Bud Cummins, according to e-mails released to Congress by the White House.

Barry Jackson, a deputy to Rove, in 2003 used a "georgewbush.com" e-mail account to consult with Neil G. Volz, then an aide to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, about nominating one of Abramoff's Indian tribe clients for a Medal of Freedom, according to a copy of an e-mail. Abramoff is now serving a prison sentence for bank fraud, and Volz plead guilty to conspiracy charges last year.

Susan B. Ralston, while she was executive assistant to Rove, similarly used "georgewbush.com" and "rnchq.org" e-mail accounts to confer in 2001 and 2003 with Abramoff, her former boss, about matters of interest to Abramoff's clients.

In a related e-mail, an Abramoff aide said Ralston had warned that "it is better to not put this stuff in writing in . . . email system because it might actually limit what they can do to help us, especially since there could be lawsuits, etc." ..................

======================================
Cryptic thank-you note may link Rove to US Attorney scandal
RAW STORY - Published: Wednesday March 28, 2007
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Cryptic_thankyou_note_may_link_Rove_0328.html

A previously overlooked e-mail from the Department of Justice document dump may turn out to be a smoking gun....

"New Mexico Republican Sen. Pete Domenici's chief of staff sent a cryptic thank-you note to Karl Rove just as the senator was recommending replacements for David Iglesias, the fired U.S. attorney in New Mexico, according to internal White House and Justice Department documents," writes Michael Isikoff.

"Thanks for everything," read the e-mail, dated January 8th, 2007, which included the name of a replacement candidate for Iglesias' position.

The email, which was sent to Rove and two other White House officials, may have been initially overlooked because it was sent to a more obscure e-mail account of Rove's. .......

======================================
Questions for Karl Rove – and President Bush
by Elizabeth Holtzman and Cynthia L. Cooper - http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/03/30/205

....A third firing pattern may exist: using firings to influence election outcomes.

E-mails suggest political strategist Rove’s involvement. Rove’s job is helping his wing of the GOP win future campaigns. What does that have to do with firing judicial appointees? Consider the districts they served in .......

======================================
House Committee requests deposition of former Rove assistant in connection with Abramoff (Ralston)
Raw Story - http://rawstory.com/news/2007/House_Oversight_Committee_requests_deposition_of_0330.html

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today requested that former Special Assistant to the President Susan Ralston present a deposition on April 5 as part of the committee's ongoing investigation into the connection between the White House and lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

======================================
Convicted felons used the e-mails http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/03/white_house_aid.html
"Another official using the unofficial e-mail system for government business was Neil Volz, the former Chief of Staff to Rep. Bob Ney.
Both Volz and Ney were convicted of crimes related to their activities with Abramoff."
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Waxman_to_Republican_groups_Save_those_0326.html

Republican National Committee = "rnchq.org" also involved

... Waxman also pointed to e-mails his committee received last year in connection to convicted superlobbyist Jack Abramoff, which show White House aides sending and receiving work-related e-mails from domains like "georgewbush.com" and "rnchq.org". ....

An RNC spokesman declined to comment, saying the organization had not yet had a chance to review the letter. The White House and former Bush-Cheney '04 campaign chairman Marc Racicot did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

======================================
Waxman advises RNC not to destroy any e-mails
Michael Roston - Monday March 26, 2007
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Waxman_to_Republican_groups_Save_those_0326.html

Pointing to e-mails between Bush administration officials and convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff that used private e-mail addresses, the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ordered the Republican National Committee and the Bush/Cheney 2004 campaign to preserve all e-mail records and to ensure that they aren't purged or destroyed.

"White House officials have used nongovernmental e-mail accounts, including those maintained by the RNC, to conduct official White House business," Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote in letters delivered today, copies of which were sent to RAW STORY. "The Committee has questions about who has access to these e-mail records and how the RNC protects them from destruction and tampering."

======================================
News: Waxman Demands All "Non-Internal" WH Docs
by MediaFreeze - Wed Mar 28, 2007 at 01:19:53 PM PDT
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/27/151427/194

The Letter: http://judiciary.house.gov/Media/PDFS/Fielding070328.pd...

Henry Waxman has sent a letter to Fred Fielding requesting that the White House turn over all documents other than the "internal" documents that they are withholding based on their claim of executive privilege. ......

an e-mail account at the Republican National Committee designated "gwb43.com." There is another, similar use of a nongovernmental e-mail account in an exchange including Mr. Jennings and Monica Goodling, the Justice Department official...who recently invoked her privilege against self incrimination.

Accordingly, we trust that you will be collecting and producing e-mails and documents from all email accounts, addresses and domains and that you are not artificially limiting your production to the official White House email and document retention system.

======================================
Waxman Reveals New Evidence Showing White House Use Of Political E-mail Accounts
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/29/white-house-email-archives

.... several White House aides “said that they stopped using the White House system except for purely professional correspondence. … ‘We knew E-mails could be subpoenaed,’” said one aide.

In a new letter to White House counsel Fred Fielding, House Government and Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman reveals new e-mail communications that provide further evidence that White House employees were trying to circumvent the archives system:

New Scott Jennings ... used “gwb43.com” e-mail accounts to communicate with the General Services Administration about a partisan briefing that Mr. Jennings gave to political appointees at GSA on January 26, 2007. When Mr. Jennings’s assistant emailed the PowerPoint presentation to GSA, she wrote: “It is a close hold and we’re not supposed to be emailing it around.”...

.... Susan Ralston, who was Karl Rove’s executive assistant, invited two lobbyists working for Jack Abramoff to use her RNC e-mail account to avoid “security issues” with the White House e-mail system, writing: “I now have an RNC blackbeny which you can use to e-mail me at any time. No security issues like my WH email.” Ms. Ralston similarly wrote Mr. Abramoff: “I know have an RNC laptop at the office for political use. I can access my AOL email when necessary so if you need to send me something that I need to read, you can send to my AOL email and then call or page me to check it.”

======================================
GOP Groups Told to Keep Bush Officials' E-Mails
Democrat Cites Investigation of Firings
By R. Jeffrey Smith - Washington Post Staff Writer - Tuesday, March 27, 2007; Page A03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601979.html

A Democratic House committee chairman yesterday told the Republican National Committee and the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign to retain copies of all e-mails sent or received by White House officials using e-mail accounts under their control....

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) said his broadly written request was based on evidence that White House officials -- particularly aides to top political adviser Karl Rove -- have used their politically related e-mail accounts to hide the conduct of official business regarding the prosecutor firings and other matters being investigated by Congress....

"The e-mails of White House officials maintained on RNC e-mail accounts may be relevant to multiple congressional investigations," Waxman wrote to the group's chairman, Mike Duncan .....

=======================================
GOP-issued laptops now a White House headache
Democrats say a private e-mail system was used in violation of federal rules.
By Tom Hamburger, Times Staff Writer - April 8, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-laptops9apr09,0,4563806.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Karl Rove: Laptops and paging devices were supplied to the political advisor and his aides by the GOP.

When Karl Rove and his top deputies arrived at the White House in 2001, the Republican National Committee provided them with laptop computers and other communication devices to be used alongside their government-issued equipment. The back-channel e-mail and paging system, paid for and maintained by the RNC ..............

=======================================
Federal Employees Accused of Hatch Act Violations
From Robert Longley, September 13, 2004
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepoliticalsystem/a/hatchbadboys.htm

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has filed two similar complaints for disciplinary action against Federal employees for sending politically partisan electronic mail messages while on duty, in violation of the Hatch Act.

The Hatch Act prohibits Federal executive branch employees from engaging in political activity while on duty, in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by an individual employed or holding office in the U.S. government, while wearing a uniform or official insignia identifying the office or position of the employee, or using any vehicle owned or leased by the government. Political activity has been defined as activity directed toward the success or failure of a political party, candidate for a partisan political office or partisan political group. ........

In an OSC press release, Special Counsel Scott Bloch stated, “The use of Internet and electronic mail is second-nature to almost everyone, and has become a favorite and effective campaign tool, even more so perhaps, than four years ago. I want to remind Federal employees to be vigilant about following the Hatch Act, because we will consider this activity a form of electronic leafleting, and thus a violation of the prohibition on partisan political activity in the workplace.”

Employees found to have violated the Hatch Act face penalties ranging from 30-day suspensions without pay to removal from federal employment. Suspended or terminated employees may appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

================================
Dan Froomkin posed a series of questions to the White House Communications Office.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/10226.html

1) Does White House policy allow White House staffers to use non-White House e-mail addresses for official White House business? Does it prohibit it? What is the policy?

2) Would these e-mails be treated any differently from official White House e-mails when it comes to archiving or subpoena purposes?

3) Does it create either impropriety or the appearance of impropriety that gwb43.com is a domain owned by the Republican National Committee?

4) Do other White House staffers regularly use non-White House e-mail accounts for White House business, and if so, why?

5) Does non-White House e-mail fulfill security requirements for White House communications?

6) If other non-White House e-mail accounts are used, who are the providers for all of the other accounts? (Any others besides the RNC?)

7) Does White House policy allow White House staffers to use non-White House e-mail addresses from their computers, even for non-official business? I’m told that during the Clinton administration, access to external e-mail, including Web mail, was shut off from White House (eop.gov) computers. Was there a conscious change of policy by the Bush administration?

8) Have there been any recent changes in policy relating to e-mail practices, or are changes in policy contemplated?

=====================================
E-Mail Saga Gets Fishier
By Dan Froomkin April 13, 2007; 1:42 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100879.html

The saga of the missing White House e-mails took a turn from the deeply suspicious to the deeply, darkly suspicious yesterday as Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman disclosed the bizarre response by the Republican National Committee to early indications that consequential White House e-mails -- particularly to and from Karl Rove -- were being deleted.

=====================================
Conyers, Sanchez Seek Rove's RNC Emails
John Nichols 04/13/2007
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=185976

The burgeoning congressional focus on the supposedly "missing" emails of White House political czar Karl Rove and almost two dozen other presidential aides who were doing political work on the taxpayers' dime is not limited to questions about the eight U.S. Attorneys who were fired after at least some of them reportedly failed to politicize their prosecutions. .............

=====================================
Waxman directs government agencies to preserve emails from RNC
Mike Sheehan April 12, 2007
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Waxman_asks_government_agencies_to_preserve_0412.html

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has issued a letter directing government agencies to retain communications sent as email by White House staffers who used non-governmental mail addresses, many of which were issued by the Republican National Committee. ................

[L. Coyote]

1. Rove’s PowerPoint Presentation Revealed During Oversight Hearing

An important, and yet little-discussed, aspect of Rove's PPT is
the illustration of how the Rs win more seats in 2008 with a WAR President!
That seems a much more serious issue than Hatch Act violations!

=================================
Rove’s PowerPoint Presentation Revealed During Oversight Hearing
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/28/rove-powerpoint-doan/

In January, General Services Administration chief Lurita Doan and Karl Rove deputy Scott Jennings held a video conference with top GSA political appointees, “who discussed ways to help Republican candidates.”

Jennings, the White House’s deputy director of political affairs, gave a PowerPoint presentation on Jan. 26 of polling data about the 2006 elections.
When Jennings concluded his presentation to the GSA political appointees, Doan allegedly asked them how they could “help ‘our candidates’ in the next elections.”

The Hatch Act explicitly prohibits partisan campaign activities on federal property.

During a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing today, Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) questioned Doan about the contents of Rove’s PowerPoint presentation. Doan repeatedly claimed ignorance ......

[L. Coyote]

8. Susan Ralston answers questions about Karl Rove's e-mails. He used private accounts "from day one."

Susan Ralston answers questions about Karl Rove's e-mails. He used private accounts "from day one."
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/29131

Earlier today, we referenced the deposition of Susan Ralston by the House Oversight Committee. Excerpts of the transcripts -- not just links to the pdf documents -- have now been posted at The Gavel (http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=494). Definitely worth a read. We're including two sections about Rove's e-mail usage:

MS. AMERLING: When did Karl Rove first start usìng his RNC e-mail account to send and receive e-mails from the White House?

A From day one.

<…>

Q For how long did Mr. Rove continue to use his political e-mail account to send e-mails from the White House?

A The entire time that I worked for hìm.

.................

[Rosa Luxemburg]

60. I guess Rove thought he wouldn't be found out?

People seem to exit from the White House when they have been found out.

[L. Coyote]

14. RE: Allegations of misconduct at GSA, the Oversight Committee letter to Karl Rove

Following Up on the GSA Hearing

Following yesterday’s hearing regarding allegations of misconduct at GSA, the Oversight Committee has sent a letter to Karl Rove to learn what other agencies received political presentations and whether federal agencies or resources were used to help Republican candidates.

Letter to Karl Rove (pdf) >>

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=195

...................

... questions were raised about the legality and appropriateness of Mr. Jennings’s presentation and the discussion that followed it. The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service issued an 11-page report that found that both the presentation itself and Ms. Doan’s comments could be violations of the federal Hatch Act. According to CRS, the White House presentation alone may cross the line into being an impermissible “political activity” under the Hatch Act when “the sponsor or presenter is closely affiliated/identified with a partisan political campaign, invitations are directed only to ‘political’ employees of a department, and the objectives and agenda of the program appear to have a partisan slant.”

As part of the Committee’s investigation into Mr. Jennings’s presentation, I ask that you answer the following questions:

* Did you approve of the slides in Mr. Jennings’s presentation? Did you approve of Mr. Jennings’s participation in this meeting?

* Does the White House Office of Political Affairs or the White House Counsel have a policy addressing when and where White House employees can make political presentations such as the one Mr. Jennings gave at GSA headquarters on January 26, 2007? Please explain the legal authority you believe allows you to make such presentations on federal property during business hours.

* Did Mr. Jennings, you, or any other employee of the White House Office of Political Affairs consult with the White House Counsel or the Office of the Special Counsel about whether delivering this presentation to federal government employees in a government building during business hours violated the Hatch Act or any other rules, policies or procedures?

* Have you, Mr. Jennings, or other employees of the White House Office of Political Affairs given this political briefing or any similar briefing mentioning future elections or candidates on other occasions? Please provide the Committee a list of the dates, times, and locations of any of these presentations at which federal officials were present, whether they occurred on federal property or not, as well as a list of the people and organizations who participated.

* Have you, Mr. Jennings, or other employees of the White House Office of Political Affairs provided Mr. Jennings’s PowerPoint presentation or any similar presentation to federal officials mentioning future elections or candidates to people or organizations outside of the White House Office of Political Affairs? Please provide the Committee a list of who received the presentation, as well as the dates, times, and locations the presentation was provided.

* Who prepared the PowerPoint presentation given by Mr. Jennings? Did your office use federal funds to prepare this briefing? If so, please explain the legal authority that you believe allows you to use federal funds to prepare political briefings such as the one Mr. Jennings presented at GSA headquarters on January 26, 2007.

* Why did Mr. Jennings and his staff assistant use private “gwb43.com” accounts rather than their “eop.gov” accounts to correspond with Administrator Doan’s office about the PowerPoint presentation?

In addition, I ask that you provide the Committee with any documents and communications relating to (1) the presentation of the PowerPoint presentation or any similar presentation mentioning future elections or candidates to federal officials and (2) the use of federal agencies or resources to help Republican candidates. ......

Henry A. Waxman
Chairman

[L. Coyote]

15. From: NancyPelosi: Hearing on Allegations of GSA Misconduct: Braley Questions

Hearing on Allegations of GSA Misconduct: Braley Questions
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6189048477160438186&q=GSA+Administrator+Lurita+Doan%2C&total=18&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

GSA Administrator Lurita Doan, responding to Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01):
“I’m a little bit embarrassed to admit this but I can say that I honestly don’t have a recollection of the presentation at all.”

More videos of the hearings on YouTube from Speaker Pelosi:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%09GSA+Administrator+Lurita+Doan%2C&hl=en

[L. Coyote]

26. Check Out Karl Rove's List Of Targeted 2008 House Races

Check Out Karl Rove's List Of Targeted 2008 House Races
By Eric Kleefeld
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/mar/28/check_out_karl_roves_list_of_targeted_2008_house_racesinsight_into_gop_dem_openings_in_2008


So which Republican Congressional incumbents does Karl Rove, the "architect" of the GOP's big recent wins — but also the 2006 debacle — think are the most vulnerable? And which Democratic incumbents does he want the GOP to target?

The answer is contained in the PowerPoint presentation authored by Rove's office that TPMmuckraker has been dissecting today. As Paul notes, the overtly political briefing was given by a Rove deputy to personnel with the General Services Administration, which theoretically is supposed to be nonpartisan. (For more background on the slide show, see TPMmuckraker's ongoing coverage).

So who's Rove worried about? The presentation lists the following Republican House members as on the "Priority Defense" list:

..................

[myrna minx]

2. K&R, n/t

[L. Coyote]

3. Using USGs $60 billion in ways that " could help "our candidates." "

One way to win elections is to spread the money where it makes certain candidates look really good.
This is a new Republican tactic, and it is the unspoken scandal behind Karl Rove's PPT to the GSA political appointees.

How the 60 billion got spread around, especially the no-bid contracts, needs review
in light of the political tactic of spending the money in ways that benefit specific candidates.

ROVE"S PowerPoint presentation: http://oversight.house.gov/Documents/20070328151840-07177.pdf

===================================
GSA Chief Grilled on GOP Slide Show
By Paul Kiel - March 28, 2007
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002896.php

Don't miss this. Here's a clip from this morning's House government reform committee hearing, investigating General Services Administration Chief Lurita Doan. In this clip, Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) grills her on a PowerPoint presentation (pdf) given by Karl Rove's deputy Scott Jennings to GSA personnel in January. The slides (13 pages) detailed which seats were "House Targets" and which "Senate Targets", which states were "Republican Offense," and which "Republican Defense." After the presentation, Doan reportedly asked other employees how the agency could help "our candidates." The GSA, remember, is the government's procurement agency, in charge of almost $60 billion each year. All of this seems like a clear violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits using federal resources to aid political parties. ...

[L. Coyote]

16. It's up to Congress to save the executive branch from Bush's and Rove's radical experiment

Upending the Mayberry Machiavellis
It's up to Congress to save the executive branch from Bush's and Rove's radical experiment to transform it forever.
By Sidney Blumenthal
http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/04/12/bush_destruction/index_np.html


On Jan. 26, J. Scott Jennings, the White House deputy political director working for Karl Rove, delivered a PowerPoint presentation to least 40 political appointees, many participating through teleconferencing, at the General Services Administration, which oversees a $60 billion budget to manage federal properties and procure office equipment. Jennings' lecture featured maps of Republican "targets" for the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 2008 election. His talk was one of perhaps dozens given since 2001 to political appointees in departments and agencies throughout the federal government by him, Rove and Ken Mehlman, the former White House political director and Republican National Committee chairman. Rove and Co. drilled polling data into the government employees and lashed them on the necessity of using federal resources for Republican victory. ......

At the GSA presentation, the agency's chief, Lurita Alexis Doan, according to a witness, demanded of her employees, "How can we use GSA to help our candidates in the next election?" But when the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing on March 28, Doan's short-term memory loss grew progressively worse ...... At a break, she ordered an assistant to remove her water glass, unaware that the microphone in front of her was still on. "I don't want them to have my fingerprints," she said. "They've got me totally paranoid!"

[jtrockville]

4. If a crime goes unpunished, was it a crime?

[L. Coyote]

11. OSC unable to take action if ROVE no longer works for the executive branch.

Hatch Act violations = Apparently NOT!

The Office of Special Counsel, ... Loren Smith, a spokesman for OSC, said Tuesday .... while the Hatch Act investigation will go on, OSC would be unable to take action against any individuals found to be in violation if they no longer work for the executive branch.

"Once a person leaves government service, they are out of our jurisdiction," Smith said.

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=37737&sid=61

[helderheid]

5. K&R - Slightly off topic - the Hatch Act - was that introduced by Orrin Hatch?

[dflprincess]

6. No, the Hatch Act goes back to 1938 or 1939

n/t

[helderheid]

7. Thanks!

[Eurobabe]

34. I always thought Whorrin Hatched it?

(Isn't that like Horton Hears a Who?)

[L. Coyote]

9. Rove resignation unlikely to hinder Hatch Act investigations

Rove resignation unlikely to hinder Hatch Act investigations
By Elizabeth Newell [e-mail] August 14, 2007
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=37737&sid=61


The resignation of Karl Rove, President Bush's top political strategist, will not stall ongoing inquiries into potentially improper political activity at agencies ....

The Office of Special Counsel, the independent agency charged with protecting the merit system and investigating Hatch Act violations, is in the middle of a government wide investigation focusing on briefings delivered by White House staffers ..... Rove's departure won't change the course of the agency's probe.

....

The ongoing OSC investigation hinges on the question of whether violations occurred at similar political briefings at other agencies.

.....

A White House spokeswoman refused to comment on whether Jennings or other Rove staffers would be leaving alongside their boss at the end of August.

.........

[L. Coyote]

12. Special Counsel Probe Into Rove’s Politicization Of Government Advances

Special Counsel Probe Into Rove’s Politicization Of Government Advances
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/06/16/counsel-hatch-probe/


The Office of Special Counsel, which has already recommended that GSA chief Lurita Doan be suspended or fired .... is now moving forward with its investigation of nearly 20 other administration agencies.

Eighteen agencies have been asked by the Office of Special Counsel to preserve electronic information dating back to January 2001 ... all e-mail records, calendar information, phone logs and hard drives going back to the beginning of the Bush administration. The task force is headed by deputy OSC special counsel James Byrne.

The White House has admitted that roughly 20 agencies have received a PowerPoint briefing created by Karl Rove’s office ....

....in 2005, Ken Mehlman, formerly one of Bush’s top political advisers, outlined the White House’s strategy of utilizing government resources for partisan gain:

"One of the things that can happen in Washington when you work in an agency is that you forget who sent you there. And it’s important to remind people that you’re George Bush people. … If there’s one empire I want built, it’s the George Bush empire."

With that imperial partisanship in mind, the Bush White House has engaged in an unprecedented quest to politicize the federal government.....

[L. Coyote]

28. NY TIMES: Investigative Drama: Special Counsel's Crusade

Investigative Drama: Special Counsel's Crusade
By Shawn Zeller, CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY, August 6, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/cq/2007/08/06/cq_3233.html


There’s probably no worse time to be a politically appointed attorney managing an important legal arm of the Bush administration. Congress continues to investigate the apparent political motives behind the dismissal of nine federal prosecutors, and the White House is continuing to stonewall such inquiries on grounds of executive privilege.

Yet Scott J. Bloch, who heads the small investigative and prosecutorial executive branch agency known as the OSC, for U.S. Office of Special Counsel, apparently has hit upon a jujitsu-style means of minting political advantage out of legal investigations into possible administration improprieties, up to and including his own investigation of the U.S. attorney firings.

The OSC’s principal work is investigating claims of whistleblowing staff at other federal agencies. But Bloch has made a fresh career out of one the agency’s lesser-known briefs: Enforcing the Hatch Act, the 1939 law forbidding executive branch employees from engaging in political activity in the workplace.

............

Bloch has described as a wide-ranging OSC inquiry into improper political activity in the administrative reaches of the Bush White House, much of it reportedly under the supervision of Karl Rove, deputy chief of staff and Bush’s top political adviser.
Bloch has launched one inquiry into last December’s dismissal of David C. Iglesias as the U.S. attorney for New Mexico and another into the e-mail accounts the White House and the Republican National Committee maintained for White House officials, containing as many as 5 million messages, that the RNC and the White House described as having vanished this spring, soon after the Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the records as part of its inquiry into the U.S. attorney dismissals.

A Dark Horse Crusader

Bloch cuts an unlikely figure as a scourge of White House political abuses. For one thing, he is presently the subject of an investigation himself — and on the very sort of charges that his office is supposed to proffer in protecting the rights of federal whistleblowers. The Office of Personnel Management is examining the claims of eight current or former OSC employees who contend that Bloch sought to reassign them ..............

[emulatorloo]

10. kick and rec n/t

[L. Coyote]

13. The White House has acknowledged ... e-mail traffic may wrongly have been deleted

Archive: Rove in new controversy over e-mails
Steve Holland, Reuters
Published: Monday, August 13, 2007
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=ab1ca1fd-112c-4add-b5c8-d3ce7d4638f1


The White House revealed this week Mr. Rove and 21 other White House officials have for years kept e-mail accounts through the RNC to conduct political business without violating the Hatch Act, which forbids government employees from using government property like handheld computer devices for partisan activities.

Democrats want to know whether Mr. Rove and the others conducted government business on the party's e-mail accounts as well to get around record-keeping requirements under the Presidential Records Act and avoid leaving a paper trail. .....

The White House has acknowledged that Mr. Rove and others at times conducted official business on RNC accounts and that some of this e-mail traffic may wrongly have been deleted, including some related to the firing of the U.S. prosecutors. ....

"We've seen no basis to conclude that anyone intentionally or improperly used the RNC e-mail," Ms. Perino said. ...

[L. Coyote]

17. White House Memo = With Rove’s Departure, a New Era

White House Memo = With Rove’s Departure, a New Era
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/15/washington/15bush.html?em&ex=1187323200&en=be7f114630b6c2ab&ei=5087%0A


CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 14 — President Bush took the White House in 2001 with Texas swagger, and promptly filled the West Wing with fellow Texans who shared his ideology and determination to fundamentally change the way the capital worked.

Six years later, the departure of Karl Rove from Mr. Bush’s brain trust will bring an end to that outsider approach. With the exception of Vice President Dick Cheney, Mr. Bush’s inner circle is now populated entirely by the kinds of Washington pragmatists and insiders whom the incoming president had seemed to dismiss openly. ...........

On Tuesday, several White House officials acknowledged with unusual candor that with just 17 months remaining in Mr. Bush’s final term, there is little time for new ideas. Nor is there much time to realize the long list of unaccomplished presidential proposals.

“There’s no question the window is narrowing,” said Joel D. Kaplan, the deputy chief of staff for policy. “But,” he added, “it’s not closed.”

Mr. Kaplan said the president would seek to use executive orders and other administrative powers aggressively to push his agenda where Congress has not, .......

[L. Coyote]

18. Today's Hot Topic: Rove's Farewell: Editorials, et.al.

Today's Hot Topic: Rove's Farewell
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/editorialist/2007/08/todays_hot_topic_roves_farewel.html


Editorials: The NYT argues that even though Karl Rove is leaving the District of Columbia for Texas, "Congress needs to use all its power" to bring him "back to Washington to testify -- in public and under oath -- about how he used his office to put politics above the interests of the American people". The WaPo writes that if Rove is judged based on his ability to achieve his ultimate goal -- the creation of a long-lasting Republican majority -- he failed. "And if the manufactured polarization of the Bush-Rove years did not even serve its ostensible purpose," the editors ask, "then what was the good of it?" The WSJ argues that while Rove "is no Merlin or Rasputin, as much as liberals and some reporters want to believe it," he was "a formidable political force" for the Republicans. And the LAT argues that even though Rove is set to leave the White House at the end of the month, "Rove-ism" will linger. "In saying good riddance to Karl Rove, his critics need to remember that he had only the influence that Bush allowed him."

.....more.... with links to the articles and editorials ...............

[L. Coyote]

19. How Karl Rove created and damaged President George W. Bush

How Karl Rove created and damaged President George W. Bush
By Ron Fournier
AP, WASHINGTON
Thursday, Aug 16, 2007, Page 9
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2007/08/16/2003374475


Karl Rove deserves as much credit for spoiling US President George W. Bush's presidency as he does for creating it -- which is to say he had a lot to do with both.

The strategist's political genius helped make Bush president.

His arrogance helped reduce Bush's stature as the end of his term nears.

"Rove is the model for all future presidential advisers -- disciplined, smart and personally tight with the commander in chief. With that power comes all of the negative baggage when policy and governing failures erupt out of control," Republican consultant Scott Reed said. "He has kept remarkably cool as the spiraled out of control the last 10 months."

Reed was pointing to last November's elections that cost Republicans control of Congress and destroyed any chance that Rove would achieve his driving ambition -- create a governing Republican coalition that would outlast the Bush presidency.

That goal was on Rove's horizon in 2000, when he helped Bush overcome long odds to defeat a sitting vice president. Democrat Al Gore won the popular vote, but Bush won the state of Florida and the majority of the electoral votes when the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to end the state's recount. ...........

[L. Coyote]

20. AMY GOODMAN: Rove's dirty tricks: Let us count the ways

Rove's dirty tricks: Let us count the ways
By AMY GOODMAN
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/327704_amy16.html

Karl Rove's resignation as deputy White House chief of staff cements the political future of the waning Bush administration. George W. will have little to do except wield his veto pen; he doesn't need the steadying hand of Rove for that, or his strategic insight.

As Rove joins the ranks of discredited politicians who resign "in order to spend more time with family," a retrospective of his dirty tricks might be in order. Much is attributed to Rove, dubbed "Bush's Brain" by Texas journalists Wayne Slater and James Moore, yet very little sticks to the man. Bearing in mind that we presume innocence until guilt is proven, read on:

# In 1970, College Republican Rove stole letterhead from the Illinois Democratic campaign of Alan Dixon, and used it to invite hundreds of people to Dixon's new headquarters opening, promising "free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing," disrupting the event.

# In 1973, Rove ran for chairman of the College Republicans. He challenged the front-runner's delegates, throwing the national convention into disarray, after which both he and his opponent, Robert Edgeworth, claimed victory. The dispute was resolved when Rove was selected through the direct order of the chairman of the Republican National Committee, who at the time was none other than George H.W. Bush.

# In 1986, while working for Texas Republican gubernatorial hopeful William Clements, Rove claimed that his personal office had been bugged, most likely by the campaign of incumbent Democratic Gov. Mark White. Nothing was proved, but the negative press, weeks before the election, helped Rove's man win a narrow victory. FBI agent Greg Rampton removed the bug, disrupting any attempt to properly investigate who planted it.

..................

[L. Coyote]

30. Democracy NOW: Bush's Brain Steps Down: Facing Subpoenas, KARL ROVE Resigns

Democracy NOW: Bush's Brain Steps Down: Facing Subpoenas, KARL ROVE Resigns

Thirty days has August. Karl Rove's ouster is happening fast for a reason, and here is one report on the topic.

==================
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007
Bush's Brain Steps Down: Facing Subpoenas, Karl Rove Resigns
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/14/1352243

Watch 128k stream = http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/2007/aug/video/dnB20070814a.rm&proto=rtsp&start=48:28

President Bush's top adviser Karl Rove announced on Monday he will step down as White House deputy chief of staff at the end of the month. The move comes while he is at the center of several Congressional investigations. We speak with Dallas Morning News reporter Wayne Slater, co-author of two books on Rove, "Bush"s Brain" and "The Architect."

.....

While Karl Rove says he is resigning in order to spend more time with his family, the move comes while he is at the center of several Congressional investigations. Last month Senate Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy subpoenaed Rove to testify about his role in the politicization of the Justice Department and the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. So far Rove has ignored the subpoena and has refused to testify, citing executive privilege. In addition, two weeks ago Rove skipped a Congressional hearing on the allegedly improper use by White House aides of Republican National Committee email accounts. Leahy has vowed to continue the investigation. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Rove said "I'm Moby Dick and they're after me."

Rove previously escaped indictment in the CIA leak case. While then-White House spokesman Scott McClellan initially publicly denied that Rove had anything to do with the leak, the special prosecutor's investigation later determined that he had in fact divulged or confirmed undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity .................

[L. Coyote]

21. Rove’s Waterloo was self-made

Rove’s Waterloo was self-made
By Jonah Goldberg
Thursday, August 16, 2007
http://news.bostonherald.com/editorial/view.bg?articleid=1017400&srvc=home

There’s an old maxim that if Napoleon had been struck by a cannonball on his way to Moscow, he would be remembered as an unrivaled military genius and liberator. But Napoleon overstayed history’s welcome and was treated harshly for it, first by the Russians and Mother Nature, then by his own people and, ultimately, by historians.

In this and other respects, Karl Rove strikes me as a Napoleonic figure. He dreamed of erecting a new political order on the ashes of the old. ....

Napoleon might also have said, if you set out to pacify Baghdad, pacify Baghdad. Yet as the American public soured on the Iraq project, Bush’s political ear - i.e. the receiver of advice from Rove - transmogrified from gold to tin. Katrina, Harriet Miers, delaying the defenestration of Don Rumsfeld, immigration reform: These moves made the White House’s grasp of the times seem thumbless.

Even Bush’s first-term gems tarnished. While much of the criticism was disingenuous, few can doubt the White House regrets that “mission accomplished” stunt. ..........

Rove engineered Bush’s 2000 victory by having Bush promise to be a “compassionate conservative.” That meant generally staying mute on racial issues, luring Latinos into the GOP fold and advocating federal activism on everything from single motherhood to education. .... Rove’s strategic vision involved securing a Republican victory at the expense of conservative principles. ....

[L. Coyote]

22. OPEDNEWS: Karl Rove: Democratic Secret Weapon

Karl Rove: Democratic Secret Weapon
by Stephen Crockett - August 15, 2007
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_stephen__070815_karl_rove_3a_democrati.htm


Karl Rove gave the Republican Party the political equivalent of the credit card teaser rate! It sure seemed good in the short term but reality sets in over the long run. Yes, "political genius" Karl Rove is the Democratic secret weapon that spells many, many Democratic victories over the next generation.

The big problem for an evil "genius" is that they are evil and the American people really are not evil. Yes, Americans can be deceived and manipulated with scare tactics, lies, dirty tricks and simplistic slogans?. for awhile. In the long term, those efforts always backfire. When these "darkside" political tactics get transferred from election strategy to policy, they will inevitably blow-up in the face of their users. Karl Rove never learned this lesson from the era of Richard Nixon.

We should realize that Karl Rove was not the only top Republican to misunderstand the lessons of the greater Watergate scandal. Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, most Republicans in Congress and the Republican National Committee are equally blind. In the Republican Party, they are all Rovians! Hurrah for us Democrats that they are! ............

[L. Coyote]

23. Rove, Still Under Subpoena, Remains Unlikely to Testify

Rove, Still Under Subpoena, Remains Unlikely to Testify
By DAVID JOHNSTON
Published: August 14, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/washington/14legal.html


WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 — Karl Rove will depart the White House still under subpoena to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, but his resignation will almost certainly not make his appearance more likely.

Mr. Rove had been summoned to appear before the Senate panel on Aug. 2 to testify about last year’s dismissals of federal prosecutors and efforts by the Justice Department to favor Bush loyalists for nonpartisan legal jobs.

Two junior former White House officials, Sara M. Taylor, a former political director, and J. Scott Jennings, a former deputy political director, have testified before the Senate panel. But the White House refused to make Mr. Rove available, just as it has refused to allow testimony by others, including Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel, who was subpoenaed by the House Judiciary Committee but did not appear before it.

In these cases, Fred F. Fielding, the White House counsel, has invoked executive privilege, citing the need for confidentiality in White House deliberations.

A White House spokesman said Monday that the privilege claim would not be affected by Mr. Rove’s resignation. The spokesman, Tony Fratto, said, “The privilege assertions remain intact.” .................

[L. Coyote]

24. Democrats Continue to Seek Testimony From Rove

Democrats Continue to Seek Testimony From Rove
By Paul Kane - Staff Writer
August 14, 2007; Page A07
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/13/AR2007081300778.html

Congressional Democrats said yesterday that they will continue to demand the testimony of senior White House adviser Karl Rove about a range of sensitive policy matters even after he leaves the West Wing at the end of the month.

"Karl Rove's resignation will not stop our inquiry into the firings of the U.S. attorneys. He has every bit as much of a legal obligation to reveal the truth once he steps down as he does today," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has helped lead the Senate Judiciary Committee's inquiry into the dismissals.

...........

Aides to Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said he is considering whether to assert that a White House claim of immunity is not valid, which could lead to a committee vote next month holding Rove in contempt of Congress. ....

A rationale often used by White House staff members for refusing to testify is that it interferes with an official's ability to advise the president, Tiefer said. "He can no longer say that an appearance would compromise his ongoing White House duties. It becomes more and more untenable for him to refuse to show up."

[L. Coyote]

25. KARL ROVE AND Bush’s Agencies Of Mass Politicization

Bush’s Agencies Of Mass Politicization
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/07/18/mass-politicization/

This week’s report that officials in the Office of National Drug Control Policy made politically motivated appearances in the months leading up to the 2006 elections are only the latest example of the Bush administration’s misuse of federal employees.

For example, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2003 that Karl Rove or his top aide, Ken Mehlman, “visited nearly every agency to outline White House campaign priorities, review polling data and, on occasion, call attention to tight House, Senate and gubernatorial races that could be affected by regulatory action.”

Partisan campaign or electoral activities on federal government property are illegal. This prohibition, however, has not stopped the Bush administration from politicizing virtually every agency under its control. Below is a quick review of the extent of the White House’s efforts to politicize the federal agencies:

* Office of Faith Based Initiatives: The office was “used almost exclusively to win political points with both evangelical Christians and traditionally Democratic minorities. The office’s primary mission, providing financial support to charities that serve the poor, never got the presidential support it needed to succeed.”

* General Services Administration: .........

[L. Coyote]

27. YOUNG TURKS: The Real Reasons Karl Rove Might Have Resigned

The Real Reasons Karl Rove Might Have Resigned
Cenk-Uygur - Aug 13th 2007
http://news.aol.com/newsbloggers/2007/08/13/down-goes-rove-down-goes-rove/


There are many, many different reasons why Karl Rove might have abruptly announced his resignation today. The only one we know for sure isn't true is the one he gave -- he wants to spend more time with his family.

That is the lamest excuse in the history of political excuses. It's such a hackneyed, cliche that it smacks of panic and poor timing. If Rove had any time to think or set up another job before he left, he wouldn't have had to go with the desperate, "spend more time with my family" BS.

He said he wants to be closer to his son who is going to college in San Antonio. Which parent leaves the job of a lifetime to stalk their kids at college? Did Rove leave the White House to attend more keggers?

So, what's the real deal here? Let's start out with the most benign and work our way toward the more fun and ugly possibilities.

.................

[L. Coyote]

29. American Prospect: IS ROVE OFF THE HOOK?

It has taken some while and lots of reading, but I found an article that seems to understand why Rove is leaving. Or, at least, they agree with my analysis, that Rove is evading removal for Hatch Act violations. Maybe someone is reading DU?

=============================
The group blog of The American Prospect
IS ROVE OFF THE HOOK?
by Adele M. Stan on August 16, 2007 01:50 PM
http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=08&year=2007&base_name=post_4595


He may have used the personnel and apparatus of taxpayer-funded government agencies for partisan political purposes, but even if that's proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and in violation of the law, Karl Rove's imminent exit from the West Wing may just let him off the hook.

As I reported earlier this week, among the many fingers pointing at Rove is one belonging to Scott J. Bloch, director of the Office of Special Counsel, which administers the provisions of the Hatch Act, a 1939 law that regulates the role of government employees in electoral politics. Detailed here by CQ's Shawn Zeller, Bloch's investigation has come as close as any to really nailing Rove, having turned Rove's special e-mail account with the Republican National Committee (RNC), which he apparently used to communicate with government employees at their "dot-gov" e-mail addresses.

But that, even when leveraged by investigations by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (led by the indefatigable Henry Waxman of California), may amount to little more than a hill of beans in Rove's case for this simple reason: the Hatch Act carries no criminal penalties. The strongest, most dire corrective it offers is removal of the offender from his or her government post. ....

............

[L. Coyote]

31. Bill Moyers on Rove's legacy = VIDEO

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x47839

Moyers' video clip begins with a great series of propaganda clips and then gets down to reality in typical Moyers style.

[L. Coyote]

32. Bush-Rove era left party in shambles

Bush-Rove era left party in shambles
By Patrick J. Buchanan = 08/16/2007
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_6637080

If one had to sum up the legacy of Karl Rove as political adviser to the 43rd president, it could probably be done in four words: tactical brilliance, strategic blindness.
.....
None of Bush's wins were nearly so impressive as the Reagan landslides in the Golden State and the nation.
.......... Rove wanted to be the architect of a new Republican majority. Instead, he and Bush presided over the loss of the Reagan Democrats and both houses of Congress.

The house Nixon and Reagan built, Bush and Rove tore down, leaving rubble in its place. Rove's failure was a failure of vision. He and Bush believed the future of the party lay in adding to the Republican base the Latino vote, now the nation's largest minority at nearly 15 percent of the population.

They went about it the wrong way. .............

[DU GrovelBot]

33. ## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

==================
GROVELBOT.EXE v4.0
==================



This week is our third quarter 2007 fund drive. Democratic
Underground is a completely independent website. We depend on donations
from our members to cover our costs. Thank you so much for your support.

[L. Coyote]

35. You will comply. You will comply. Resistance is FUTILE.

[L. Coyote]

36. FRONTLINE: Karl Rove, The Architect = WATCH the entire program online

WATCH the entire program online
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/architect/

Rove's life and career, what makes him a superb political strategist, and how he and the president "are playing for history."
the rise of the republican party

Evaluating the social and political changes that drove the Republican resurgence. How long might their dominance last?\

Ken Mehlman, Mark McKinnon, Matthew Dowd, David Broder, Thomas Edsall, Dan Balz, Grover Norquist, Dana Milbank...

How Rove moved Texas toward the Republican Party in the '80s: it was a blueprint for what he would do nationwide years later.

===================
Transcript

You can download and print out a transcript of Karl Rove -- The Architect from this page of the site.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/architect/etc/script.html

....

RALPH REED: Karl's job is to be eyes and ears and to have feelers out there, and it's his job to then communicate those to the president.

NARRATOR: One of Rove's regular conversations was his get-together with conservative gadfly Grover Norquist.

GROVER NORQUIST, Political Activist: I think Rove understands the nature of the modern conservative movement. And Rove and President George W. Bush staked out very radical — meaning fundamental — conservative positions: cutting taxes to let people have more control over their lives. He was good on the 2nd Amendment. He was pro-life. He respected people of faith. I think there's less daylight between Bush and Rove than— it's like two halves of a brain or something. They're both operating in sync, and have for years.

......

RALPH REED, Exec. Dir. Christian Coalition 1989-'97: I knew Karl was good, and those two coming together— you know, Karl's sort of knowledge of the mechanics of it and all the different personalities and players in some of these big counties. And then when you added to that this extremely skilled candidate, it was just— it was a marriage made in heaven. It really was.

......

[L. Coyote]

37. WA POST Sunday, 2007.08.19 Page A01: Rove Directed Federal Assets for GOP Gains

There comes a point when even the MSM cannot avoid putting the pieces of the puzzle into place.
In today's cyber-world, that point seems to be right after we, the blogosphere, tell them all about it!

Disturbing as the long delay in this news getting the treatment it deserves seems,
nonetheless the placement of this piece on page one Sunday shatters the paradigm,
carefully built all week in the state propaganda organs, that Karl Rove resigned!

========================================
How Rove Directed Federal Assets for GOP Gains
Bush Adviser's Effort to Promote the President and His Allies Was Unprecedented in Its Reach

By John Solomon, Alec MacGillis and Sarah Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, August 19, 2007; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/18/AR2007081801182.html?nav=hcmodule


Thirteen months before President Bush was reelected, chief strategist Karl Rove summoned political appointees from around the government to the Old Executive Office Building. The subject of the Oct. 1, 2003, meeting was "asset deployment," and the message was clear:

The staging of official announcements, high-visibility trips and declarations of federal grants had to be carefully coordinated with the White House political affairs office to ensure the maximum promotion of Bush's reelection agenda and the Republicans in Congress who supported him, according to documents and some of those involved in the effort.

"The White House determines which members need visits," said an internal e-mail about the previously undisclosed Rove "deployment" team, "and where we need to be strategically placing our assets."

Many administrations have sought to maximize their control of the machinery of government for political gain, dispatching Cabinet secretaries bearing government largess to battleground states in the days before elections. The Clinton White House routinely rewarded big donors with stays in the Lincoln Bedroom and private coffees with senior federal officials, and held some political briefings for top Cabinet officials during the 1996 election.

But Rove, who announced last week that he is resigning from the White House at the end of August, pursued the goal far more systematically than his predecessors, according to interviews and documents ................

[L. Coyote]

39. Rove appeared on three Sunday shows for goodbye interviews

It really seems the media has not heard that Rove was violating the Hatch Acy or ignoring subpoenas. Why isn't he confronted with that on these shows, instead of the Hillary red herring stuff?

=================
A weekly roundup of the buzz from the Sunday talk shows
Monday, August 20, 2007; Page A02
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/19/AR2007081901398.html

Days after announcing that he will depart the White House, Karl Rove appeared on three Sunday shows for goodbye interviews and practiced what he has long preached: sticking doggedly to his message, exuding confidence about the appeal of the Republican Party at every opportunity and defending his and the president's every decision.

"My critics think all kinds of bad things about me," he said. "I don't really care."

He confided that it was not even his idea to come on the shows. "Somebody else made the decision for me," he said, "and I'm just doing what I was instructed to do."

On NBC's "Meet the Press," CBS's "Face the Nation" and "Fox News Sunday," Rove rejected the suggestion that his departure signaled the end of Bush's domestic agenda. .....

[L. Coyote]

51. RAW STORY = Paper: How Rove directed federal assets for GOP gains

Paper: How Rove directed federal assets for GOP gains
RAW STORY http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Paper_How_Rove_directed_federal_assets_0819.html
Published: Sunday August 19, 2007


Discussion and 20 comments

[L. Coyote]

38. The Next Hurrah: Why Rove Resigned? To Grant the Administration Immunity

August 19, 2007
Why Rove Resigned? To Grant the Administration Immunity
by emptywheel
http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/08/why-rove-resign.html

There have been a flurry of stories depicting the degree to which the Bush Administration has politicized ... everything. McClatchy described how Treasury and Commerce were making decisions based on the political value for the Republican party. And today, the WaPo describes how Interior and Labor were doing the same. And based on interviews and documents, the WaPo describes the whole process as more systematic than anything before.

...the punishment for civil Hatch Act violations? To be fired from your job. Shall we review the names of those most involved in leading this process?

* Karl Rove
* Sara Taylor
* Scott Jennings
* Barry Jackson
* Ken Mehlman
* Susan Ralston

Rove, Taylor, Mehlman, and Ralston are gone, and Jackson is rumored to be leaving. ..........

[L. Coyote]

40. For Rove to Imply He Didn't Leak Plame's Identity Is "Nonsense"

Opinion - The Nation Mon Aug 20, 5:14 PM ET
For Rove to Imply He Didn't Leak Plame's Identity Is "Nonsense"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20070820/cm_thenation/15225180


Karl Rove is working feverishly to rewrite history in the few remaining days before he is no longer taking taxpayer money to do the political work of the Bush-Cheney administration.

The White House political czar, who has never been a frequent guest on the talking-head shows where Washington insiders make news on otherwise slow Sundays, was front and center on NBC-TV's "Meet the Press" and Fox News Sunday. The interviews of Rove by NBC's David Gregory and Fox's Chris Wallace were lousy.

Obviously hoping to get Rove's help in landing heftier interviews with those who will remain on the administration's sinking ship longer than the man they referred to as "Bush's brain," Gregory and Wallace asked soft questions and then allowed Rove to dodge them. Indeed, when the discussion came close to getting serious about documented examples of Rove's dramatic abuses of his position, the soon-to-be-former presidential aide glibly responded, "nice try," or declared "I'm going to leave it there" -- essentially telling his supposed inquisitors that it was time to move on to the next topic.

Fortunately, in the discussion that followed the Rove interview on "Meet The Press," Gregory hosted veteran Time Magazine Washington reporter Matt Cooper.

Cooper blunted described Rove's precise role in the scandalous -- and, depending on chosen interpretations of the law, treasonous -- leaking of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. ................

[calimary]

41. Wow - what a huge amount of research! Bookmarked.

Definitely bookmarked.

Thank you!

[L. Coyote]

46. Hopefully the reporters who should be researching Rove find this

Too many are failing to see the connection between Rove "resigning" and his actions.

[L. Coyote]

42. 2007.08.21: Attorney claims Rove had role in her firing

Attorney claims Rove had role in her firing
Former state worker dismissed for talking to media files lawsuit
12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 21, 2007
By WAYNE SLATER / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/DN-rove_21tex.ART.State.Edition1.42816f9.html


AUSTIN – An attorney fired from the Texas secretary of state's office for talking publicly about presidential adviser Karl Rove has filed a lawsuit, saying she is the victim of political pressure.

Elizabeth Reyes was dismissed in September 2005 after Mr. Rove called Secretary of State Roger Williams about her quotes in a newspaper story.

In the suit filed in state district court, Ms. Reyes says she was fired "because of the political embarrassment and pressure" after she answered a reporter's questions about Mr. Rove's voting eligibility in Texas. .....

[L. Coyote]

43. Waxman Wants More On Rove's 'Asset Deployment' Team

Waxman probes use of federal funds for campaign travel
By DANIEL FRIEDMAN - August 21, 2007
http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=2983955

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is asking agencies for information on whether top officials took trips to support Republican candidates, as questions about improper use of federal resources for electoral politics increasingly focus on travel.
In letters sent Aug. 21 to the heads of 19 agencies, committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., requests “a list of all of the events with federally elected officials or candidates for federal office that you or your predecessor attended outside of Washington, D.C., during 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.”
The letter asks for information on each event’s location, purpose and attendees, whether taxpayer funds were used for agency officials’ travel and if the officials went in an official capacity........

Waxman’s committee and the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) are investigating whether administration officials violated the act in connection with a series of electoral strategy briefings that White House officials gave to political appointees at most large agencies. OSC, which has already found the head of the General Services Administration violated the Hatch Act during a briefing there, is reviewing information on briefings at other agencies.

==========================
Waxman Wants More On Rove's 'Asset Deployment' Team
By Patrick O'Connor - Aug 21, 2007 (The Politico)
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/21/politics/politico/thecrypt/main3192431.shtml

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) wrote yet another letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales requesting more documents in his ongoing investigation of possible violations by federal employees who are prohibited from using government resources for political gain.

His most recent missive stems from a story that appeared in The Washington Post over the weekend about Karl Rove's "asset deployment" team ..........

[L. Coyote]

57. RAW STORY 2007.08.30 Waxman requests missing e-mail information

Waxman requests missing e-mail information
Nick Juliano - Thursday August 30, 2007

The chairman of Congress's investigative committee is requesting information from the White House about up to 5 million missing e-mails after the Bush administration rebuffed an independent group's attempt to learn about the White House's record-keeping practices.

Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, wrote to White House Counsel Fred F. Fielding requesting reports produced within the White House about the missing e-mails.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a private watchdog, previously requested the reports under the Freedom of Information Act, but the White House denied it request with an unorthodox -- and precedent reversing -- claim that the Office of Administration, which maintained the records, was not subject to the public records law.

In his letter, Waxman (D-CA) said the denial of CREW's request was " an apparent effort to keep the public from learning the extent of missing White House e-mails."

Waxman gives the White House until Sept. 10 to turn over the requested information, which he first requested three months ago, ....

In its report on the missing e-mails in April, CREW said top White House officials, including political adviser Karl Rove, used e-mail accounts provided by the Republican National Committee to conduct official government business without leaving behind a public record, in violation of federal law.

Waxman's letter is reprinted below: ...........

[L. Coyote]

44. Scott Ritter - Aug 21, 2007: Why Cheney Really Is That Bad

Why Cheney Really Is That Bad
By Scott Ritter - Aug 21, 2007
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070821_why_cheney_really_is_that_bad/


Karl Rove, interchangeably known as “Boy Genius” or ”Turd Blossom,” has left the White House. The press conference announcing his decision to resign has been given front-page treatment by most major media outlets, but the fact of the matter is the buzz surrounding Rove’s departure is much ado about nothing, especially in terms of coming to grips with the remaining 16 months of the worst presidency in the history of the United States.

Rove is a domestic political marauder, the personification of a conservative movement which lacks a moral compass and has a complete disregard for facts. The master of exploiting mainstream America’s predilection for news-as-entertainment, under which the likes of Rupert Murdoch can manufacture headlines out of thin air, Rove helped turn “fair and balanced” into a national joke which everyone laughs at but few actually comprehend. Rove served as the maestro of a political-smear orchestra composed of such intellectually challenged muckrakers as Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, manipulating the NASCAR/professional wrestling crowd’s addiction to seedy gossip in an effort to maintain the all-important 51 percent majority needed to win elections.

...............

“Bush’s Brain” may claim that it was his careful manipulation of fiction over fact that carried the 2004 election, in which the term “Swift-boating" became synonymous with political character assassination, but it was the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and the war in Iraq which sank the Democratic Party and its candidate for president, John Kerry. It is very difficult to unseat a president in a time of war, especially when so many Democrats voted in favor of the concept, .........

Certainly, Karl Rove played a significant behind-the-scenes role in supporting Bush’s war policies. The perjury trial of “Scooter” Libby forced the collective of deaf, dumb and blind pseudo-journalists who populate what is known as the mainstream media in America to recognize how pathetically duplicitous and petty the Bush administration could get when it came to defending the policies propping up the so-called Global War on Terror and the awful tragedy of Iraq. Rove’s fingerprints were all over the decision by Vice President Dick Cheney to leak CIA officer Valerie Plame’s name to the media in an effort to thwart the truth-telling of her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson.

But that is about as deep as Rove’s involvement in the two issues that will define the presidency of George W. Bush gets. ............

[L. Coyote]

45. 'Brain' leaves much damage "the government institutions he diminished in his wake."

'Brain' leaves much damage
A TIMES EDITORIAL - August 21, 2007
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/08/21/Opinion/_Brain__leaves_much_d.shtml


Karl Rove, the man once referred to as "Bush's Brain," is leaving Washington to spend more time with his family in Texas. ....

Rove was at heart a political operative who knew how to win elections with George W. Bush as the candidate, ethics aside. But when he set foot in the White House, Rove brought his hardball politics with him and injected partisanship into government on a scale not seen in modern times.

.... Rove was a puppet-master of sorts, pulling strings at various federal agencies and departments to make them responsive to the electoral needs of Republican candidates.....

Perhaps most disturbing is the mounting circumstantial evidence that points to Rove as being instrumental in the decision to fire nine U.S. attorneys. This appears to have been an effort to use the power of federal law enforcement for partisan ends. Those U.S. attorneys who resisted going after Democrats or refused to give Republican wrongdoers a pass were shown the door.

... Rove ... did not ultimately succeed in cementing a permanent Republican majority ... he will be remembered for his attempts to do so, and the government institutions he diminished in his wake.

[L. Coyote]

47. New Statesman : Bush: is the president imploding?

Bush: is the president imploding?
Andrew Stephen - 23 August 2007
http://www.newstatesman.com/200708230011

His aides are jumping ship, his inner circle is torn apart by feuds and his orders are being ignored. Bush has 17 months left in the White House, but he is now a rudderless leader. ....

You certainly wouldn't think there was a crisis. ... Bush himself, 61 last month, is about to break a record previously held by Ronald Reagan: before the end of this month, according to my calculations, he will have surpassed the old Gipper's record of having taken 436 days' holiday while in office.

Indeed, this past week, Air Force One touched down at Waco airport in Texas - I swear this is true - for the 66th time since Bush took office, so he could relax at his 1,583-acre "ranch" (there's not so much as a hint of any livestock ....

But the symbolic meltdown of his administration came on the South Lawn of the White House on 13 August when a semi-tearful Karl Rove, 56, announced he will be leaving the administration on 31 August. Though nominally only deputy chief of staff, Rove had become increasingly indispensable to Bush ....

[L. Coyote]

48. WA Post David S. Broder: Rove Unrepentant = Insightful reading

Rove Unrepentant
By David S. Broder - August 23, 2007; Page A19
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/22/AR2007082202443.html

Karl Rove exited arguing with everyone -- so spirited in his own defense as he blanketed the Sunday talk shows that he hardly needs further assistance from anyone. The resignation he handed President Bush last week, 17 months before the end of their White House tenure, writes an equivocal ending to a controversial political partnership. But Rove himself is not about to apologize for anything -- not for "outing" Valerie Plame Wilson, not for calling Hillary Rodham Clinton a "fatally flawed" candidate, not for questioning former senator Max Cleland's commitment to fighting terrorism, not for reducing the Republican Party to its lowest level of public support in a generation. And not for his contributions to the divisiveness of American politics.

It is hard to generate much sympathy for someone as unrepentant as Rove, .........

Nonetheless, it would be a mistake for Democrats -- or other Republicans -- to think that "Rovism" has run its course and that the last chapter in this story has been written.

The error would be to assume that Rove's goal is bounded by the career of George W. Bush. It has been -- and remains -- larger and longer-lasting, the domination of America by a certain type of Republicanism. ....

.... if I know Rove, he is probably thinking even now about elections past 2008, calculating how to solidify support up and down the Republican ticket and drive fresh wedges into the Democrats.

His game has always been long term, and he plays it with an intensity and attention to detail that few can match. That kind of manager can always find candidates who will welcome his help. No one should let down his guard just because Rove is temporarily in eclipse.

[L. Coyote]

49. dKos: Rove Done in by 'Bama Case (Updated)

Rove Done in by 'Bama Case (Updated)
by whenwego
Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 03:22:45 PM PDT
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/13/16720/9334

So Rove resigns on a Sunday, not a Friday. Clearly "spending more time with my family" and "Bartlett pushed me out" are silly excuses. The real reason had to be something big, something compelling, something legal. ........

[L. Coyote]

50. Reconsidering Mr. Turd Blossom

August 23, 2007 at 23:30:20
Reconsidering Mr. Turd Blossom
by Don Swift
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_don_swif_070823_reconsidering_mr__tu.htm


George W. Bush called Karl Rove "Turd Blossom," after a plant that blossoms amid dung. It's a far more appropriate designation than "Boy Genius....

Like Lee Atwater, his mentor, Rove was the master of dirty tricks and playing wedge issues. Who can forget the rumors about John McCain, including the one about his adopted daughter being his love child from a liaison with an African American prostitute? Then there was his success in making anyone who disagreed with Bush's war in Iraq appear to be a traitor. A few millions spent on clever attack advertisements, and John Kerry was transformed from a decorated war hero into a self-promoting traitor. Then there were the other tricks some attribute to him. Did he somehow help Dan Rather with the faked documents about Bush's Air Guard Service? Their contents were dead-on accurate, but the ensuing flim-flam created a taboo against looking into the military career of Lt. George W. Bush.


The Bush administration has been shrouded in so much secrecy that we can only guess at the extent of Rove's skullduggery. ......

[L. Coyote]

52. StatesmanJournal: Bush, Cheney, Rove are the worst of all time

Bush, Cheney, Rove are the worst of all time
August 26, 2007
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070826/OPINION/708260309/1050

By the first of September, Karl Rove will have resigned. Perhaps another miracle will happen. Suppose Dick Cheney's heart problems would force him to retire. That would leave George W. Bush in the same position as in 9/11, where he was when he received word of the twin towers disaster.

For seven minutes he sat helpless with nobody to tell him what to do. ..... Bush would panic again and head down to the sheep ranch in Texas, never to be heard of again.

What a blessing for the American people and our military in Iraq, getting rid of the three most disastrous guys in American history. There have been quite a few bad politicians in our history, most with a big R behind their names. None worse than these three.

[L. Coyote]

53. "The Hill" outlines the issues that put Karl Rove on CREW's radar

"The Hill" outlines the issues that put Karl Rove on CREW's radar
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/29914

Submitted by crew on 13 August 2007 - 2:00pm. Karl Rove

In an article noting that Karl Rove has been "one of the favorite targets" of Democrats and bloggers, The Hill provides a synopsis of several of the issues that have made Mr. Rove of interest to CREW. Basically, they all relate to improper activity by one of the highest ranking officials in the Bush administration:

Prior to recess, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued a subpoena for Rove to force him to testify before the panel about his role in the firings of several U.S. attorneys. Bush claimed executive privilege to prevent Rove from appearing.

In addition, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is investigating whether administration officials are using federal resources for political purposes, a probe that also targets Rove.

As part of both investigations, Democrats are trying to determine whether top White House officials are using non-administration accounts, such as those they received from Bush’s presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee, to evade oversight.

Rove also played a prominent role in the Valerie Plame-CIA leak case and was asked to appear before a grand jury several times. This led Bush’s opponents to hope that Rove, who is one of the most polarizing figures in this administration, would be indicted.

COMMENTS:

They forgot Rove's links to Jack Abramoff!
Submitted by Anonymous on 13 August 2007 - 3:43pm.

The above comment excludes that Rove has been implicated in the Jack Abramoff probe, and it just isn't yet known to what extent Abramoff influenced Rove and Rove committed official acts in exchange for Abramoff or Abramoff-arranged gifts.

Abramoff gave $ 100 K to Bush's re-election campaign. As top political advisor Rove would want to be sure that the largest donors and if the donor were a lobbyist, the lobbyist's clients secured government contracts as a reward. Anyone who didn't contribute to re-election campaigns was denied contracts!

Rove has said he would have pushed-out corrupt Republican congressional officials sooner if he could go back in time. Heard a report that Rove goes back with Bush more than 30 years from when Bush was in TX. So is Tom DeLay from TX! Abramoff described his relationship with DeLay as like another brother. Have to wonder is DeLay's relationship with Abramoff is in some way taking down Karl Rove. Rove says he wants nothing to do with the 2008 presidential election. If he's to be indicted or is to take a plea deal in the Abramoff probe, then any candidate Rove got behind now, would later be shamed for their links to Rove.

=====================
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/roves-departure-leaves-democrats-without-favorite-target-2007-08-13.html
Rove’s departure leaves Dems without favorite target
By Klaus Marre - August 13, 2007

“It’s a tragedy that an Administration that promised to unite Americans has instead left us more divided than ever before,” said. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Bush’s opponent in the 2004 race. “Without doubt the architect of that political strategy was Karl Rove, who proved the politics of division may win some elections but cannot govern America.”

[Oilwellian]

54. The emails Palast obtained are key

He has 500 of them and they are pay dirt. Caging lists with thousands of names, some being troops in Iraq, purged from voter rolls. I just did a video using a report from Palast and then some of the star liars:

Enjoy. :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlKJXeUqot4

[L. Coyote]

55. Excellent VIDEO and good point. Add Seigelman Alabama investigation. and

Abramoff ties .... How did he last this long, eh?

[L. Coyote]

56. Possible explanation on request for delay & Rove comments

I'M NOT SURE WHAT TO MAKE OF THIS:

===================
COMMENT:
Possible explanation on request for delay & Rove comments
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/29947#comment-12502
Submitted 21 August 2007 - 3:23pm.

FROM:
Cheney still pushes claim he's not part of executive branch
Submitted by crew on 21 August 2007 - 10:37am. Dick Cheney Executive Privilege
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/29947

Yesterday, the Bush administration failed to meet the deadline for subpoenas from the Senate. That's really not a surprise. However, Dick Cheney sent separate responses and apparently still contends he's not part of the executive branch:

Vice President Dick Cheney’s office on Monday responded separately from the White House to a Senate subpoena for documents on warrantless wiretapping and resurrected the controversial contention that Cheney is not part of the executive branch.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) set Monday’s subpoena deadline after granting an extension request by the White House. Presidential counsel Fred Fielding, as expected, told Leahy in a letter that a second delay, until after Labor Day, would help Congress and the administration “expeditiously seek a means of accommodation that will negate the need for an assertion of executive privilege.”

.............

[L. Coyote]

58. "Gonzales-Rove Plan is a criminal enterprise crafted to thwart the Hatch Act"

Were Rove AND Gonzales Fired for Hatch Act Violations? Probably.

===========================
Pay No Attention to the Man Behind The Curtain
Scott Horton - May 10, 2007
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/05/hbc-90000037

..............

In the end, the Gonzales-Rove Plan is a criminal enterprise crafted to thwart the Hatch Act, and it needs to be investigated and prosecuted. Who says so? A majority of the public. And, in an interview with the Seattle Times, two former Republican prosecutors, John McKay and David Iglesias. Career prosecutor McKay (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003699882_webmckayforum09m.html):

“I think there will be a criminal case that will come out of this,” McKay said during his meeting with Times journalists. “This is going to get worse, not better.” McKay cited ongoing investigations into the dismissals by the Senate and House Judiciary committees, and inquiries now under way by the Justice Department’s inspector general and its Office of Professional Responsibility.

McKay said he believes obstruction-of-justice charges will be filed if investigators conclude that the dismissal of any of the eight prosecutors was motivated by an attempt to influence ongoing public-corruption or voter-fraud investigations. McKay said he believes the strongest evidence of obstruction is related to the dismissals of Iglesias and Carol Lam, the former U.S. Attorney in San Diego.

I think that the inescapable necessity of criminal investigations and prosecutions is finally sinking in. The Bush Administration has held to a consistent pattern of conduct in such situations in the past: scapegoat the grunts and deny any liability up the chain. The “grunts” here are Monica Goodling and Kyle Sampson. Gonzales maneuvered very skillfully in delegating everything to them in order to preserve a thin aura of deniability (which he will use exhaustively in his testimony today before the House Judiciary Committee). The best evidence of all this is the secret order delegating the power to hire and fire to Goodling and Sampson, which has just been made public (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/others-charge ). .........

[L. Coyote]

59. Garry South: Karl Rove's dirty tricks "campaign-type political apparatus at the taxpayers’ expense"

Garry South: Rove's dirty tricks
By: Garry South
Sep 4, 2007 06:17 AM EST
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0907/5622.html


Karl Rove’s recent resignation as George W. Bush’s political Rasputin (aka “Bush’s brain”) has prompted the inevitable avalanche of commentary and analysis about Rove’s role and influence — the good, the bad and the ugly — in 43rd’s White House.

But there is a much more fundamental question about Rove that ought to be addressed: What the hell was a lifelong partisan hack like Rove ever doing sitting a few feet from the Oval Office in the first place?

................

the political community and the media have gotten so used to Rove’s smug visage, smarmy election prognostications and sleazy political machinations over the past six and a half years, the fact that all this was carried out while he was sitting inside the White House, on the public payroll, more or less became accepted as routine and normal.

But a newly elected president of the United States ensconcing his chief political operative and hatchet man in the West Wing, making him deputy chief of staff, handing him the domestic policy portfolio, letting him chair the pre-invasion White House Iraq Group and allowing him to re-create a campaign-type political apparatus at the taxpayers’ expense, is far from accepted practice in recent times. ..............

[L. Coyote]

61. Draper: Laura Bush Considers Rove ‘A Necessary Evil,’ ‘Self-Aggrandizing’

Draper: Laura Bush Considers Rove ‘A Necessary Evil,’ ‘Self-Aggrandizing’
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/04/draper-laura-bush-rove/

In a new book on the Bush presidency, entitled “Dead Certain,” former Texas Monthly senior editor Robert Draper reveals that First Lady Laura Bush refers to her husband’s longtime political adviser, Karl Rove, as “Pigpen,” the perpetually dirty character from Charles Schulz’ “Peanuts” comic strip.

On the Today Show this morning, host Meredith Veira asked Draper about the First Lady’s feelings towards Rove. “Well, I think she recognizes that Karl Rove was a necessary evil,” said Draper. He also said she felt Rove often took more credit than he deserves:

"She also felt that Rove was a bit self-aggrandizing, and she would say at times, “let’s see what boy genius has to say about this.” She didn’t like the fact that, in her view, Rove would sometimes be stealing credit for administration policy that, in fact, emanated from her husband."

..............