Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington - Karl Rove

New report says Senior Bush officials under investigation in US Attorneys scandal

crew — Fri, 8 Aug 2008 08:21:58 -0500

From investigative reporter Murray Waas:

The Justice Department investigation into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys has been extended to encompass allegations that senior White House officials played a role in providing false and misleading information to Congress, according to numerous sources involved in the inquiry.

The widened scope raises the possibility that investigators will pursue criminal charges against some administration officials, and recommend appointment of a special prosecutor if there is evidence of criminal misconduct.

The investigators have been specifically probing the role of White House officials in the drafting and approval of a Feb. 23, 2007 letter sent to Congress by the Justice Department denying that Karl Rove (President Bush's chief political adviser at the time) had anything to do with the firing of Bud Cummins, a U.S. Attorney from Arkansas. Cummins was fired in Dec. 2006 to make room for Tim Griffin, a protégé and former top aide of Rove's.

The February 23 letter stated, "The department is not aware of Karl Rove playing any role in the decision to appoint Mr. Griffin," and that the Justice Department was "not aware of anyone lobbying, either inside or outside of the administration, for Mr. Griffin's appointment."

Federal investigators have obtained documents showing that Kyle Sampson, then-chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and Chris Oprison, then an associate White House counsel, drafted and approved the letter even though they had first-hand knowledge that the assertions were not true. The Justice Department later had to repudiate the Sampson-Oprison letter and sent a new one informing Congress that it could no longer stand by the earlier assertions.

Bush administration still stonewalling Congress on subpoenas for Bolten, Miers and Rove

crew — Thu, 7 Aug 2008 17:02:07 -0500

The Bush administration is requesting a stay of the decision in the case of Committee on the Judiciary v. Miers. Last week, a federal district court judge determined that the claim of executive privilege did not prevent high level staffers from testifying before Congress. The Bush team is appealing -- as they try to run out the clock:

Despite a court ruling last week rejecting its claim of executive privilege, the White House still rebuffs congressional subpoenas for chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers.

The two on Thursday requested that federal District Judge John Bates stay the ruling until the case is appealed. In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), White House counsel Fred Fielding said the administration would await the outcome of its appeal before “entertaining any requests for Mr. Bolten’s compliance with the Senate Judiciary subpoena.”

Fielding also noted that any request for testimony from former White House adviser Karl Rove would produce the same response.

House Committee to Karl Rove: You have no claim of executive privilege

crew — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:37:36 -0500

Karl Rove, who refused testify before the House Judiciary Committee today, may be on his way to a contempt of Congress charge:

Former White House adviser Karl Rove defied a congressional subpoena to testify Thursday about allegations of political pressure at the Justice Department, including whether he tried to influence the prosecution of a former Democratic governor of Alabama.

Rep. Linda Sanchez, chairman of the House subcommittee that called Rove, ruled with backing from fellow Democrats on the panel that Rove's claim of immunity was invalid — perhaps the first step toward holding him in contempt for refusing to cooperate.

Lawmakers subpoenaed Rove in May in an effort to force him to talk about whether he was involved in prosecutors' decisions to pursue cases against Democratic politicians or in the firing of federal prosecutors two years ago.

Rove won't testify before House Judiciary Committee

crew — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 09:24:57 -0500

Want to make sure this article wasn't overlooked over the holiday weekend. Karl Rove has apparently invoked executive privilege and will not appear at the House Judiciary Committee later this week:

Karl Rove, former White House deputy chief of staff and President Bush's top political adviser, is refusing to appear before the House Judiciary Committee to testify on "politicization" within the Justice Dept. Rove had been scheduled to appear next Thursday, July 10.

Rove's refusal to respond to a Judiciary Committee subpoena drew a stern response from Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Commercial and Administrative Law subcommittee.

"We want to make clear that the subcommittee will convene as scheduled and expects Mr. Rove to appear, and that a refusal to appear in violation of the subpoena could subject Mr. Rove to contempt proceedings, including statutory contempt under federal law and proceedings under the inherent contempt authority of the House of Representatives," Conyers and Sanchez wrote in a letter to Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin.

Luskin, in a letter to the two Democratic lawmakers on Monday, pointed out that the committee is already involved in a civil lawsuit against the Bush administration over the White House's claim of "absolute immunity" from having to respond to subpoenas issued to current or former senior aides once the president has asserted executive privilege.

Karl Rove has been subpoenaed by House Judiciary Committee over U.S. Attorney firings and Siegelman case

crew — Thu, 22 May 2008 13:45:16 -0500

CNN just reported that the House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed former White House aide Karl Rove in the ongoing investigation of the firing of U.S. Attorneys and the case of Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.

More details as they unfold....

RNC "has no intention of trying to restore the missing White House e-mails."

crew — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 08:41:45 -0600

Anne Weismann's posted an excellent analysis of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's hearing on yesterday the serious email problems at the White House.

There is also a question about White House staff using private email accounts to conduct business. For example, Karl Rove used a private email account from the Republican National Committee (RNC) "most of the time." Those emails used to conduct official government business should be part of the public record. We were led to believe that the RNC was spending vast sums to find Rove's missing emails. Not anymore. Yesterday, we learned that the RNC will not even try to find missing White House emails:

After promising last year to search its computers for tens of thousands of e-mails sent by White House officials, the Republican National Committee has informed a House committee that it no longer plans to retrieve the communications by restoring computer backup tapes, the panel's chairman said yesterday.

The move increases the likelihood that an untold number of RNC e-mails dealing with official White House business during the first term of the Bush administration -- including many sent or received by former presidential adviser Karl Rove -- will never be recovered, said House Democrats and public records advocates.

The RNC had previously told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that it was attempting to restore e-mails from 2001 to 2003, when the RNC had a policy of purging all e-mails, including those to and from White House officials, after 30 days. But Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) disclosed during a hearing yesterday that the RNC has now said it "has no intention of trying to restore the missing White House e-mails."

Senate Judiciary Committee approves contempt citations against Josh Bolten and Karl Rove

crew — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:13:55 -0600

Two Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter (PA) and Charles Grassley (IA) joined all the Democrats on that panel to approve contempt citations against top Bush aides, Josh Bolten and Karl Rove:

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted for a contempt citation against presidential confidants Karl Rove and Josh Bolten on Thursday, the latest move in an inquiry into possibly politically motivated firings of federal prosecutors.

The 12-7 vote sent the citation against the two to the full Senate, but it was not certain to advance further.

Rove, the architect of President Bush's two campaigns for the White House, and Bolten, the president's chief of staff, have refused to comply with subpoenas demanding testimony and documents in the congressional probe.

Rove, who recently left government, and Bolten claim the information Congress demands is off-limits under executive privilege. Lawmakers in both the House and Senate dispute that.

The Senate Judiciary Committee vote means that contempt citations against Bush administration officials await floor action in both chambers of Congress.

Senator Specter forces delay in contempt vote against Josh Bolten and Karl Rove

crew — Thu, 6 Dec 2007 14:28:07 -0600

A delay in the much anticipated vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee to find White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former Bush political guru Karl Rove in contempt. The Hill reports:

Specter, the panel’s ranking member, indicated he had asked Leahy to put off the vote on behalf of himself and other committee Republicans. “There is considerable concern on my side about the structure of the citation,” Specter said Thursday. “It would be my hope that we could negotiate some intervening language.”

Republicans, he said, believed the resolution’s language goes too far in its assertions about what was uncovered by the Democratic-led investigation into whether politics played a role in the Justice Department firings of several U.S. attorneys late last year.

Republican National Committee spending large to find Rove's missing e-mails

crew — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:19:12 -0600

The Bush administration's missing e-mail woes are now costing the Republican Party. Mary Ann Akers at the Washington Post reports on the vast sums being spent by the RNC to find Rove's e-mails (and a hat tip to Think Progress):

Nothing comes cheap in Washington, including Karl Rove's missing e-mails. Just ask the Republican National Committee, which seems to be spending a pretty penny looking for them.

Earlier this year, it was discovered that Rove and other White House aides had been using private e-mail accounts at the RNC to send messages about controversial government matters, such as the firings of U.S. attorneys. When investigators came calling, the RNC couldn't find the e-mails but promised to look.

Now, The Sleuth has learned, the hunt for those missing gigabytes has cost the RNC more than $250,000.

According to an RNC filing with the Federal Election Commission, the committee paid $231,615 in October to Stroz Friedberg, a forensics firm chock full of former FBI agents hired to retrieve the lost electronic data. The report shows the committee also paid $41,217 in October to Covington & Burling, the law firm representing the RNC on the missing e-mail controversy.

Karl Rove led effort to prosecute former Governor of Alabama

crew — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:34:30 -0500

According to a report in The Hill, Karl Rove played a key role in the case against former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman (D). Based on testimony provided to the House Judiciary Committee, it appears Rove may have instigated that prosecution:

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) on Wednesday released an interview with GOP lawyer Dana Jill Simpson implicating former White House adviser Karl Rove in the prosecution and conviction of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman (D) on corruption charges.

In a closed-door interview with committee staff, Simpson recalled how Rob Riley, current Gov. Bob Riley’s (R) son, told her about Rove’s role in a plan to prosecute Siegelman if he did not back down from contesting the 2001 gubernatorial election results that handed the office to Riley.

According to the transcript, Simpson described a 2005 conversation with Rob Riley, who told her that Rove had contacted the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice to press for further prosecution of Siegelman. She said Rob Riley also recounted how the case would be assigned to a federal judge who “hated” Siegelman and would “hang Don Siegelman.”