Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove played a bigger part in the 2006 U.S. Attorney purge than previously known, The Washington Post reported this afternoon.
Karl Rove (Gov)
E-mails obtained by The Post give new insight into the former Bush official’s role in the purge. Two of the e-mails focus on then-New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias and Timothy Griffin, who replaced then-U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas Bud Cummins.
In an October 2006 e-mail, White House political affairs aide Scott Jennings informed Rove that then-Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and his chief of staff, Steve Bell, wanted Iglesias out of office.
“I received a call from Steve Bell tonight. . . . Last week Sen. Domenici reached the chief of staff and asked that we remove the U.S. Atty. Steve wanted to make sure we all understood that they couldn’t be more serious about this request,” said the Jennings e-mail obtained by The Post.
Rove told The Post he was only a messenger. The former Bush official said he had “no recollection” of how he learned that Iglesias was fired.
“Yes, I was a recipient of complaints, and I passed them on to the counsel’s office to be passed onto Justice,” Rove told The Post.
In a February 2005 e-mail, Rove told deputy Sara Taylor that he wanted to replace a U.S. Attorney with his protege, Griffin.
“Give him options. Keep pushing for Justice and let him decide. I want him on the team,” said the Rove e-mail obtained by The Post.
Then, White House Counsel Harriet Miers contacted Taylor a month later.
“Sara, Karl asked me to forward you a list of locations where we may consider replacing the USAs…,” said the Miers e-mail obtained by The Post.
Rove personally suggested that Griffin should replace Cummins, according to The Post.
Assistant U.S. attorney Nora R. Dannehy and the House Judiciary Committee are investigating the purge. Today, the former White House deputy chief of staff wrapped up the second day of closed-door House hearings about the U.S. Attorney purge, The Post said. A transcript of the hearings could be made public in August, according to The Post.
“I certainly can confirm that Karl answered all of the committee’s questions fully and truthfully,” Rove attorney Robert Luskin told The Post. “His answers should put to rest any suspicion that he acted improperly.”
