Common Cause Blog :: Karl Rove announces resignation

Karl Rove announces resignation

By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 10:08:05 AM EST

This is not a joke. Karl Rove has announced that he will resign at the end of August.

What does this mean for the ongoing battle over executive privilege and congressional subpoena power? Remember, Rove has defied a subpoena from the Senate Judiciary Committee, setting up a legal showdown that has yet to really get underway. Likely, it won't make much of a difference. The White House has claimed executive privilege for Harriet Miers and Sara Taylor, both of whom had already left the administration when they were served with the congressional order.

UPDATE: Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT), the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has issued the following statement:

“Earlier this month, Karl Rove failed to comply with the Judiciary Committee's subpoena to testify about the mass firings of United States Attorneys. Despite evidence that he played a central role in these firings, just as he did in the Libby case involving the outing of an undercover CIA agent and improper political briefings at over 20 government agencies, Mr. Rove acted as if he was above the law. That is wrong. Now that he is leaving the White House while under subpoena, I continue to ask what Mr. Rove and others at the White House are so desperate to hide. Mr. Rove’s apparent attempts to manipulate elections and push out prosecutors citing bogus claims of voter fraud shows corruption of federal law enforcement for partisan political purposes, and the Senate Judiciary Committee will continue its investigation into this serious issue.

“The list of senior White House and Justice Department officials who have resigned during the course of these congressional investigations continues to grow, and today, Mr. Rove added his name to that list. There is a cloud over this White House, and a gathering storm. A similar cloud envelops Mr. Rove, even as he leaves the White House.”

Tags: Karl Rove, US attorneys, Pat Leahy (all tags)

Karl Rove announces resignation :: 4 Comments

Rove resignation smells

Does anybody, anybody at all actually believe that Karl Rove is leaving to spend more time with his family? Bush is in the basement and not coming out. Rove's leaving will not help that. He has been through some heat but he is a tough little badger and leaving now will not change anything that he is implicated in. So......

Rove is an operative and a master of filthy, dirty campaign slime. I think he is going to be orchestrating the Republican party's sludge attack to take out Hillary Clinton. He needs to move into the shadows to have flexibility of movement to create disgusting scenarios and lies and misleading gambits about Clinton. He is like that under the toe nail fungus from the commercial, he is virulent and stubborn like a recurrent infection in the political system. It looks like Hillary Clinton is going to be the Democratic nominee for the presidency so get ready for the Republicans to start showering the nation with slime to take your breath away.

by billflan48 on Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 02:31:31 PM EST

Re:

billflan48,

As I indicated below, the best argument is one that is well-thought-out and carefully crafted. Karl Rove may make you so angry it's hard to put it to words, but your point will be more effective if you criticize him on any number of the concrete things he's done and said; it will resonate more than calling him a toenail fungus.

You do bring up a good point about Rove's history of crafting negative dialogues about Bush's opponents during campaigns. He may be leaving the White House, but he's certainly not leaving politics. We'll just have to wait and see what his role will be from here on out.

by Kirstin Ellison on Mon Aug 20, 2007 at 09:50:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]

billflan48 angry Gringo Democrat

Billfan48,

Your comments are more like a Liberal Hate Speech. You probably like people like President Pro Tempore and Democrat Robert Carlyle Byrd, who is a former member of the KKK and other bigots of the Democratic Party.

by el profeta misterioso on Sat Aug 18, 2007 at 12:05:24 AM EST

no need

el profeta,

There is no need to make personal attacks on another commenter. Just because you disagree with what they write doesn't mean you can call them a bigot.

If you don't agree with something you read here, I would expect you to be able to rebut it with a well-thought-out response, not ad hominem attacks that contribute nothing but hostility to the dialogue.

by Kirstin Ellison on Mon Aug 20, 2007 at 09:43:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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Karl Rove announces resignation

By Kirstin EllisonPosted on Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 10:08:05 AM EST

By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 10:08:05 AM EST