Democrats vow pursuit of Rove over scandals

Democrats vow pursuit of Rove over scandals
By Andrew Ward andStephanie Kirchgaessnerin Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: August 15 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 15 2007 03:00


As Karl Rove prepares to leave the White House, the Democrats have vowed to continue investigating his role in a range of scandals and controversies dogging the Bush administration.

Democratic leaders in the US Congress want to question him about the sacking of several federal prosecutors last year, amid allegations that the White House ordered the purge for political reasons.

The case is the most prominent in a series of inquiries into alleged abuse of power by the administration, with the White House accused of politicising large parts of the federal government.

As chief political adviser to President George W. Bush and bête noire of the Democratic party, Mr Rove had become the prime target of the investigations.

His resignation on Monday was viewed by some as an attempt to ease pressure on the administration by re-moving a key target in the White House. But Mr Rove said his departure was un-likely to end the Democrats' pursuit of his political scalp.

"I'm realistic enough to understand that the subpoenas are going to keep flying my way," he said. "I'm Moby-Dick and we've got three or four members of Congress who are trying to cast themselves in the part of Captain Ahab."

Both the House and Senate judiciary committees declared they would press ahead with their inquiries.

"The need for Karl Rove to explain his role in the firing of the US attorneys does not diminish when he leaves the White House,'' said John Conyers, chairman of the House committee.

Mr Rove was issued with a subpoena last month requiring him to testify to Congress about the firings. But the White House has refused to make him or other senior officials available for testimony, arguing that its internal deliberations are protected by executive privilege.

Mr Rove said he would re-main protected by executive privilege after leaving his post at the end of the month.

Democrats are trying to prove that the White House targeted federal prosecutors deemed unsympathetic to Republican interests, to make room for what one Justice Department e-mail described as "loyal Bushies".

Among the candidates nominated to fill the vacancies was Timothy Griffin, a former aide to Mr Rove and a legal adviser to the Bush campaign during the 2000 presidential election recount.

Mr Rove is the third White House official embroiled in the controversy to have quit this year, following Harriet Miers, the former legal counsel, and Sara Taylor, former political director.

Other cases involving Mr Rove include an inquiry by the House oversight committee into whether White House staff used Republican party e-mail accounts to evade rules on presidential record-keeping. He is also at the centre of an investigation by the same committee into whether the White House broke the law by giving political briefings to federal officials. In addition to the congressional inquiry, the briefings are also under scrutiny by the Office of Special Counsel, a federal investigative body.

Mr Rove denied that his resignation was connected to the inquiries, insisting that he had been considering his future since last summer.

"Anybody who suggests the investigations had something to do with getting me out is putting Congress in the position of being the rooster that believes that crowing loudly brings the sun to come up," he said.