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{{Infobox Celebrity
| name = Karl Christian Rove
| image = Karl Rove.jpg|200px
| imagesize = 170px
| caption = An official portrait of Karl Rove
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|12|25}}
| birth_place = {{flagicon|USA}}{{flagicon|USA-CO}}], ]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = ]
| spouse = Darby Rove (2nd wife)
| children = Andrew Madison Rove
| Web site =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Karl Christian Rove''' (born ], ]) is ] to ] ] until the end of August 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the ]. For most of his career prior to his employment at the ], Rove was a ] almost exclusively for ] candidates.

Rove's ] clients have included ] (2000 and 2004 presidential elections, 1994 and 1998 Texas gubernatorial elections), ] ] (1994 US Senate election), ] (1986 Texas gubernatorial election), Senator ], ] ] (1990 Texas Agriculture Commission election), and ] (1982 ] and 1984 U.S. Senate elections).

On ] ], a federal agency launched an extensive investigation into the activities of the White House's political operation and its architect, Karl Rove. It is checking whether Rove or other White House aides broke federal laws by making political presentations to government employees encouraging them to find ways to support Republican candidates.

On ] ], the ] reported that Rove would resign from his role in the Administration to return to Texas, effective August 31.<ref name="WSJ-8-13-07">{{cite web | url = http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118698747711695773.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news | title = Karl Rove to Resign At the End of August - WSJ.com | accessdate = 2007-08-13 | date = ] | publisher = ] }}</ref> According to an interview with Rove conducted by the editor of the Journal editorial page, Rove first floated the idea of resigning in mid-2006 but stayed with the administration through the mid-term election cycle.

==Personal life and early political experiences==
===Early life and high school===
Rove was born the second of three children in ], and later raised in ]. His biological father abandoned the family early on and his mother remarried. His new adoptive father, Louis Claude Rove Jr., was a mineral ], and his mother, Reba Wood, was a gift shop manager. His older brother is Eric P. Rove, and his younger sister is Reba A. Rove-Hammond. His adoptive father is of ] descent.

In 1960, at the age of nine, Rove decided to support ]. According to Rove, "There was a little girl across the street who was ] and found out I was for Nixon, and she was avidly for ]. She put me down on the pavement and waled on me and gave me a bloody nose. I lost my first political battle."<ref name="underdog">{{cite news | url=http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,450019080,00.html | title=Triumph of the underdog | author=Lee Davidson | publisher=Deseret News | date=] ]}}</ref>

His family moved to ] in ] when Rove was entering high school. While at ], he was elected student council president his junior and senior years. He became skilled in debate.<ref></ref> He says "I was the complete nerd. I had the briefcase. I had the ]. I wore ] when they were not cool. I was the thin, scrawny little guy. I was definitely uncool."

Rove began his involvement in American politics in ]. In a 2002 '']'' interview, Rove explained, "I was the Olympus High chairman for (former ]) ]'s re-election campaign, where he was opposed by the dynamic, young, aggressive political science professor at the ], J.D. Williams."<ref name="underdog" /> Bennett was reelected to a third six-year term. Through Rove's campaign involvement, Bennett's son, ] — a future United States Senator from ] — would become a friend. Williams would later become a mentor to Rove.

===College years at the University of Utah, and the Dixon campaign incident===
In the fall of ], aged 18, Rove entered the ], on a $1,000 scholarship,<ref>{{cite news | title=Rove: Ex-Utahn in crisis; Unethical revenge would not surprise his U. poli-sci prof; Rove known as a fierce competitor | publisher=The Salt Lake Tribune | author=Matt Canham and Thomas Burr | date=] ]}}</ref> as a ] major and joined the ] fraternity.

Through the University's Hinckley Institute of Politics, Rove got an ]ship with the ]. That position and contacts from the 1968 Bennett campaign, helped Rove land a job in 1970 in ], helping on the unsuccessful re-election campaign of ] for the Senate. Smith lost to Democrat ].

In the fall of 1970, Rove used a false identity to enter the campaign office of Democrat ], who was running for Illinois State Treasurer, and stole 1000 sheets of paper with campaign letterhead. Rove then printed fake campaign rally fliers promising "free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing", and distributed them at rock concerts and ] shelters, with the effect of disrupting Dixon's rally (Dixon eventually won the election). Rove's role would not become publicly known until August 1973. Rove told the ''Dallas Morning News'' in 1999, "It was a youthful prank at the age of 19 and I regret it."<ref name="balz-2003-strategist">{{cite news | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/rove072399.htm | title=Karl Rove - The Strategist | publisher=The Washington Post | author=Dan Balz | date=] ]}}</ref>

===Adoption, parents' divorce, and mother's death===
In ] ], Rove's stepfather left the family, and divorced Rove's mother soon afterward. Louis Rove had informed his wife that he was gay and that he was coming out of the closet and wanted a divorce. After he retired from his job in LA, Louis Rove moved to Palm Springs and befriended other retired gay men. He drank and socialized at the Rainbow Cactus and the Martini Burger and became part of a group of gay men who referred to themselves as "The Old Farts Club." According to his close friend of many years, retired insurance executive Joseph Koons, Louis Rove was one of the best people he knew and that both Louis and his son Karl were comfortable with the father's sexual orientation. Although Karl lovingly accepted his father as a gay man and treated Louis' gay associates with respect, Louis Rove's death was a private matter. His friends knew nothing of a memorial service and no death notice was published in the Palm Springs newspaper.

After his parents' separation, Rove learned from his aunt and uncle that the man who had raised him was not his biological father; both he and his older brother Eric were the children of another man. Rove has expressed great love and admiration for his adoptive father and for "how selfless" his love had been.<ref name="new-yorker-profile-2003">'']'' profile: by Nicholas Lemann "Profiles", The New Yorker Magazine ] ]. .</ref> In ] Rove's mother committed ] in ].

===Leaves College for position in the College Republicans===
In ] ], Rove ] of college to take a paid position as the Executive Director of the ]. Joe Abate, who was National Chairman of the College Republicans at the time, became a mentor to Rove.

Rove traveled extensively, participating as an instructor at weekend seminars for campus ]s across the country. He was an active participant in Richard Nixon's ]. As a protégé of ] (later convicted as a ] conspirator), Rove painted the Nixon opponent ] as a "] peacenik", in spite of McGovern's ] stint piloting a B-24.<ref> by James Ridgeway in the Village Voice. ] ].</ref>

===Vietnam War and the draft===
In ] ], the ] held its first lottery drawing. Those born on December 25, like Rove, received number 84. That number placed him in the middle of those (with numbers 1 through 195) who would eventually be drafted.

On ] ], Rove was reclassified as 2-S, a deferment from the ] because of his enrollment at the ] in the fall of ]. He maintained this deferment until ] ], despite being only a part-time student in the autumn and spring quarters of ] (registered for between six and 12 credit hours) and dropping out of the university in June 1971. Rove was a student at the ] in the fall of ]; as such, he would have been eligible for 2-S status, but registrar's records show that he withdrew from classes during the first half of the semester. In December 1971 he was reclassified as 1-A. On ] ], he was reclassified as 1-H, or "not currently subject to processing for induction". The draft ended on ] ].

===College Republicans, Watergate, and the Bushes===
Rove held the position of executive director of the College Republicans until early 1973. He left the job to spend five months, without pay, campaigning full time for the position of national chairman of the organization, for the 1973-1975 term.<ref name="new-yorker-profile-2003"/> ], the group's Southern regional coordinator, who was two months younger than Rove, managed Rove's campaign. The two spent the spring of 1973 crisscrossing the country in a ], lining up the support of Republican state chairs.

The College Republicans summer ] convention at the '''Lake of the Ozarks''' resort in ] was quite contentious. Rove's opponent was ] of ] (the other major candidate, ] of ], dropped out, supporting Edgeworth). A number of states had sent two competing delegates, because Rove and his supporters had made credentials challenges at state and regional conventions. For example, after the Midwest regional convention, Rove forces had produced a version of the Midwestern College Republicans constitution which differed significantly from the constitution that the Edgeworth forces were using, in order to justify the unseating of the Edgeworth delegates on procedural grounds.<ref name="new-yorker-profile-2003"/> including delegations, such as ] and ], which had been certified earlier by Rove himself. In the end, there were two votes, conducted by two convention chairs, and two winners &mdash; Rove and Edgeworth, each of whom delivered an acceptance speech. After the convention, both Edgeworth and Rove appealed to ] Chairman ], each contending that he was the new College Republican chairman.

While resolution was pending, Dolan went (anonymously) to the '']'' with recordings of several training seminars for young Republicans where Rove discussed campaign techniques that included rooting through opponents' garbage cans. On ] ], in the midst of the Watergate scandal, the ''Post'' broke the story in an article titled "Republican Party Probes Official as Teacher of Tricks."

At Nixon's request, an ] agent questioned Rove. As part of the investigation, Atwater signed an ], dated ] ], stating that he had heard a "20 minute anecdote similar to the one described in the ''Washington Post''" in July 1972, but that "it was a funny story during a coffee break."<ref>]'': Karl Rove - the Architect: Mastermind: Chronology - Karl Rove's life and political career] at PBS.org</ref> Former Nixon White House Counsel ], who was implicated in the Watergate break-in and became the star witness for the prosecution, has been quoted as saying that "Based on my review of the files, it appears the Watergate prosecutors were interested in Rove's activities in 1972, but because they had bigger fish to fry they did not aggressively investigate him."<ref> by David Talbot on Salon.com. ] ]</ref>

On ] ], three weeks after announcing his intent to investigate the allegations against Rove, Bush chose Rove to be chairman of the College Republicans. Bush then wrote Edgeworth a letter saying that he had concluded that Rove had fairly won the vote at the convention. Edgeworth wrote back, asking about the basis of that conclusion. Not long after that, Edgeworth has said, "Bush sent me back the angriest letter I have ever received in my life. I had leaked to the ''Washington Post'', and now I was out of the Party forever."

As National Chairman, Rove introduced Bush to Atwater, who had taken Rove's job as the College Republican's executive director, and who would become Bush's main campaign strategist in future years. Bush hired Rove as a special assistant in the Republican National Committee, a job Rove left in 1974 to become executive assistant to the co-chair of the RNC, ].

As special assistant, Rove also performed small personal tasks for Bush. In November 1973, Bush asked Rove to take a set of car keys to his son George W. Bush, who was visiting home during a break from ]. It was the first time the two met.
"Huge amounts of charisma, swagger, cowboy boots, flight jacket, wonderful smile, just charisma - you know, wow", Rove recalled years later.<ref> The Guardian, ] ]</ref>

===Virginia Republican Party===
In 1976, Rove became the Finance Director for the Virginia Republican Party, which did not have a single fundraising event on its schedule at the time. Rove moved to ]. Within a year, Rove had pulled in more than $400,000 through direct mail fundraising.

===First marriage===
On ] ], Rove married ] socialite Valerie Mather Wainwright. In January 1977, he moved to ]. "The wedding was so extravagant that his sister and father still recall it with awe. But the marriage of the society daughter and the hardworking political hack didn't last long."<ref>{{cite news | title=From Bad to Worse | publisher=The OC Weekly, Stern Publishing, Inc. | author=James Ridgeway | date=] ]}}</ref> Wainwright divorced Rove on ] ], when Wainwright was 26 and Rove was 29.<ref>{{cite news | title=The Man Who Would Be Kingmaker | publisher=Houston Press, New Times Inc. | author=Miriam Rozen | date=] ]}}</ref>

===Second marriage===
In January 1986, Rove married Darby Tara Hickson, a graphic designer and former employee of '''Karl Rove + Co.''' They have a son, Andrew Madison Rove, born in ].<ref name="new-yorker-profile-2003"/> He is an undergraduate at ] in San Antonio, Texas. Hickson is a ] survivor.

===Education===
In addition to the University of Utah and the University of Maryland, Rove attended ] from 1973 to 1975, and the ] in 1977. He does not have a college degree; in July 1999, the ''Washington Post'' quoted Rove as saying "I lack at this point one math class, which I can take by exam, and my foreign language requirement."

===Residences and voting registration — Texas, DC, and Florida===
Rove left Texas after Bush was elected President in late ]. He now owns a home in the ] that is valued at $1.1 million. Rove sold his longtime home in ] in ].

In September ], the ''Washington Post'' reported that Rove had agreed to reimburse the District for an estimated $3,400 in back taxes. The taxes were owed because since 2002, when the law changed, Rove was not entitled to a homestead exemption for his DC house because he was voting elsewhere (in Texas).<ref>{{cite news | url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090202397.html | title= Rove Not Entitled to D.C. Homestead Deduction | publisher=The Washington Post | date=] ] | author=Lori Montgomery | page= A02}}</ref>

Rove registered to vote in ] about 80 miles west of Austin in the Texas Hill Country, on ] ]. The residence that Rove claims on Texas voter registration rolls consists of two small rental cottages, the largest of which is 814 square feet. The cottages were part of the that Rove and his wife, Darby, once owned on the Guadalupe River near ]. The Roves sold the lodge in 2003, after renovating it,<ref name="balz-2003-strategist"/> but kept the two cottages, which the lodge rents to guests. (Darby T. Rove is listed as a director of the new owner of the lodge, Estadio Partners, LLC.)

In early October ], a resident of Kerr County filed a complaint with the District Attorney of the county, requesting an investigation into whether Rove and his wife violated Texas state law by illegally registering as voters in Kerr County, since neither had ever lived there.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/newsrelease.php?view=85|title=New Complaint Filed Against Karl ROVE With Kerr County, TX District Attorney to Investigate Illegal Voter Registration |publisher=citizensforethics.org|date=] ]}}</ref> Texas law defines a residence, for voting purposes, as "one's home and fixed place of habitation to which one intends to return after any temporary absence."<ref>{{cite news | url= http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA091005.1B.rove_residence.cdb6c0f.html | title= Rove story costs S.A. lawyer her state job | publisher=San Antonio Express-News | date=] ] | author=Zeke MacCormack}}</ref>

On ] ], Rex Emerson, the District Attorney, announced that he had determined there was insufficient evidence to prosecute either Rove or his wife, and that his office would close the case without further action.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://web.dailytimes.com/story.lasso?wcd=17821 | title=Rove OK to vote here | publisher=The Daily Times | date=] ] | author=Gerard MacCrossan}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/03/AR2005110302591.html | title= Rove Is Ruled Legal Voter in Texas | publisher=The Washington Post | date=] ] | page=A12}}</ref>

In addition to the $1.1 million home he owned in the District in 2005, Rove and his wife built a home in ] worth more than $1 million, according to Rove's 2005 financial disclosure form.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/6/15/204859.shtml | title=
Bush Top Aides Have Investment Wealth | publisher=The Associated Press | date=] ]}}</ref>

==The Texas years and notable political campaigns==
===]–]===
Rove's initial job in Texas was as a legislative aide for Fred Agnich, a Texas state representative, in Agnich's Dallas office. Later in 1977, Rove got a job as executive director of the Fund for Limited Government, a political action committee (PAC) in Houston headed by ], a Houston lawyer (later President George H.W. Bush's Secretary of State). The PAC eventually became the genesis of the Bush-for-President campaign of 1979–1980.

His work for Bill Clements during the Texas ] race of ] helped Clements become the first Republican Governor of Texas in over 100 years. Clements was elected to a four-year term, succeeding scandal-plagued Democrat ]. Rove was deputy director of the Governor William P. Clements Junior Committee in 1979 and 1980, and deputy executive assistant to the governor of Texas (roughly, Deputy Chief of Staff) in 1980 and 1981.<ref> (commercial site).</ref>

In ], Rove founded a ] consulting firm, '''Karl Rove & Co.''', in Austin. The firm's first clients included Texas Governor Bill Clements and ] congressman ], who later became a Republican congressman and ]. Rove operated his consulting business until 1999, when he sold the firm to take a full-time position in George W. Bush's presidential campaign.

Between 1981 and 1999, Rove worked on hundreds of races. Most were in a supporting role, doing ] fundraising. A November ] '']'' article<ref name="Karl Rove in a Corner">{{cite news|url= http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200411/green/3|title=Karl Rove in a Corner|author=Green, Joshua|publisher=The Atlantic Monthly|date=November 2004}} </ref> estimated that he was the primary strategist for 41 statewide, congressional, and national races, and Rove's candidates won 34 races.

Rove also did work during those years for non-political clients. From 1991 to 1996, Rove advised tobacco giant ], and ultimately earned $3,000 a month via a consulting contract. In a deposition, Rove testified that he severed the tie in 1996 because he felt awkward "about balancing that responsibility with his role as Bush's top political advisor" while Bush was governor of Texas and Texas was suing the tobacco industry.<ref name="nerdbehind">{{cite news|url=http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/1999-05-13/news/feature_print.html|author=Rozen, Miriam|publisher=The Dallas Observer|date=] ]|title=The Nerd Behind the Throne}}</ref>

====] George W. Bush congressional campaign====
Rove advised the younger Bush during his unsuccessful Texas congressional campaign in 1978.
] bestseller, '']'': one view of Rove's role in Bush's rise to power.]]

====] George H. W. Bush presidential campaign====
In ], Rove was the first person hired by ] for his official (ultimately unsuccessful) ], which ended with Bush being selected as ]'s vice-presidential nominee. Reagan and Bush won the election, but Rove was fired in the middle of the campaign for leaking information to the press.

====] William Clements, Jr. gubernatorial campaign====
In ], Clements ran for reelection, but was defeated by Democrat ].

====] Phil Gramm congressional campaign====
In ], ] was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a conservative Texas Democrat.

====] Phil Gramm senatorial campaign====
In ], Rove helped Gramm, who had become a Republican in 1983, defeat Democrat ] in the race for U.S. Senate.

====] Ronald Reagan presidential campaign====
Rove handled direct-mail for the Reagan-Bush campaign.

====] William Clements, Jr. gubernatorial campaign====
In ], Rove helped Clements become governor a second time. In a strategy memo Rove wrote for his client prior to the race, now among Clements's papers in the ] library, Rove quoted ]: "The whole art of war consists in a well-reasoned and extremely circumspect defensive, followed by rapid and audacious attack."

In ], just before a crucial debate in campaign, Rove claimed that his office had been bugged by Democrats.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.counterpunch.org/madsen1101.html|title=Exposing Karl Rove|author=Wayne Madsen| publisher=counterpunch.org|date=] ]}}</ref> The police and FBI investigated and discovered that the bug's battery was so small that it needed to be changed every few hours, and the investigation was dropped.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/09/04/135514.php|title=Bush's Brain| date=] ] |author=El Bicho|publisher=blogcritics.org}}</ref> Critics suspected Rove had bugged his own office to garner sympathy votes in the close governor's race.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/transcripts_060404_roving.html | title= Roving Reporters|date=] ]| publisher=onthemedia.org }}</ref>

====] Texas Supreme Court races====
In ], Rove helped Tom Phillips become the first Republican elected as Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. Phillips had been appointed to the position in November ] by Clements. Phillips was re-elected in 1990, 1996 and 2002.

Phillips' election in ] was part of an aggressive grassroots campaign called "Clean Slate '88", a conservative effort that was successful in getting five of its six candidates elected. (Ordinarily there were three justices on the ballot each year, on a nine-justice court, but, because of resignations, there were six races for the Supreme Court on the ballot in November 1988.) By 1998, Republicans held all nine seats on the Court.

====] Texas gubernatorial campaign====
In ], Rove encouraged George W. Bush to run for Texas governor, brought in experts to tutor him on policy, and introduced him to local reporters. Eventually, Bush decided not to run, and Rove backed another Republican for governor who lost in the primary.

====Other ] Texas statewide races====
In ], two other Rove candidates won: ], the future governor of the state, became agricultural commissioner, and ] became state treasurer. The 1990 election was notable because the ], earlier that year, had investigated every Democratic officeholder in the state. The FBI investigation nailed Agriculture Commission employees Mike Moeller and senior administrator Pete McRae for soliciting contributions for then-agricultural commissioner ].

====] Richard Thornburgh senatorial campaign and lawsuit====
In ], ] resigned as ] to run in a special election for a Senate seat in ] (vacated by ], who was killed in a helicopter crash), and hired Rove's company. After Thornburgh's loss to Democrat ], Rove sued Thornburgh and alleged Thornburgh had not paid for services rendered. The ], worried that the suit would make it hard to recruit good candidates, urged Rove to back off. When Rove refused, the RNC hired ] to write an ] on Thornburgh's behalf. The case went to trial in Austin, and Rove won.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://bnfp.org/neighborhood/Lemann_Rove_NYM.htm|title=The Controller: Karl Rove is working to get George Bush reelected, but he has bigger plans.|author=Lemann, Nicholas|pubisher=The New Yorker Magazine|date= ] ]}}</ref> The Karl Rove & Co. v. Thornburgh case was heard by US Federal Judge ] who had been appointed by George HW Bush in 1991.

===] George H. W. Bush presidential campaign===
Rove was fired from the 1992 Bush presidential campaign after he planted a negative story with columnist ] about dissatisfaction with campaign fundraising chief ] ('']'', January 2003). Novak provided some evidence of motive in his column describing the firing of Mosbacher by former Senator ]: "Also attending the session was political consultant Karl Rove, who had been shoved aside by Mosbacher." Novak and Rove deny that Rove was the leaker, but Mosbacher maintains, "Rove is the only one with a motive to leak this. We let him go. I still believe he did it."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/06/politics/06novak.html|title=Rove and Novak, a 20-Year Friendship Born in Texas|date=] ]|author=Bumiller, Elisabeth|publisher=]|page=A8}}</ref>
During testimony before the ], Rove apparently confirmed his prior involvement with Novak in the 1992 campaign leak, according to '']'' reporter ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/0525nj1.htm|title=Rove-Novak Call Was Concern To Leak Investigators|date=] ]|author=Waas, Murray|publisher=National Journal}}</ref>

===1993–2000===
'''] Kay Bailey Hutchison senatorial campaign'''
Rove helped Hutchison win a special Senate election in June 1993. Hutchison defeated Democrat ] to fill the last two years of ]'s term. Bentsen resigned to become ] in the Clinton administration.

'''] Alabama Supreme Court races'''
In ], a group called the '''Business Council of Alabama''' hired Rove to help run a slate of Republican candidates for the state supreme court. No Republican had been elected to that court in more than a century. The campaign by the Republicans was unprecedented in the state, which had previously only seen low-key contests. After the election, a court battle over absentee and other ballots followed that lasted more than 11 months. It ended when a federal appeals court judge ruled that disputed absentee ballots could not be counted, and ordered the Alabama Secretary of State to certify the Republican candidate for Chief Justice, ], as the winner. An appeal to the Supreme Court by the Democratic candidate was turned down within a few days, making the ruling final. Hooper won by 262 votes.

Another candidate, ], ran against ], an incumbent Democratic justice and the son-in-law of ]. The race included charges that Kennedy was mingling campaign funds with those of a ] children's foundation he was involved with. A former Rove staffer reported that some within the See camp initiated a ] that Kennedy was a ].<ref name="Karl Rove in a Corner" /> Kennedy won by less than one percentage point.

'''] John Ashcroft senatorial campaign'''
In 1993, according to the '']'', Karl Rove & Company was paid $300,000 in consulting fees by Ashcroft's successful 1994 Senate campaign. Ashcroft paid Rove's company more than $700,000 over the course of three campaigns.

'''] George W. Bush gubernatorial campaign'''
In ], Rove began advising George W. Bush in his successful campaign to become governor of Texas. Bush announced his candidacy in November 1993. By January 1994, Bush had spent more than $600,000 on the race against incumbent Democrat ], with $340,000 of that paid to Rove's firm.

Rove has been accused of using supposed pollsters to call voters to ask such things as whether people would be "more or less likely to vote for Governor Richards if knew her staff is dominated by ]s." During the race, a regional chairman of the Bush campaign was quoted criticizing Richards for "appointing avowed ] activists" to state jobs. Only circumstantial evidence links Rove to the ].

'''] Harold See's campaign for Associate Justice, Alabama Supreme Court'''
According to a Rove employee, Rove was dissatisfied with the campaign's progress and printed flyers — absent any trace of who was behind them — attacking See and his family. See won the race.<ref name="Karl Rove in a Corner"/>

'''] George W. Bush gubernatorial campaign'''
Rove was an adviser for Bush's 1998 reelection campaign. From July through December 1998, Bush’s reelection committee paid '''Rove & Co.''' nearly $2.5 million, and also paid the Rove-owned Praxis List Company $267,000 for use of mailing lists. Rove says his work for the Bush campaign included direct mail, voter contact, phone banks, computer services, and travel expenses. Of the $2.5 million, Rove said, "About 30 percent of that is postage". In all, Bush (primarily through Rove's efforts) raised $17.7 million, with $3.4 million unspent as of March 1999.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.texasobserver.org/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=942|date=] ]|publisher=The Texas Observer|title=Political Intelligence: Bush Goes A-Rove-ing}}</ref>

'''] Harold See campaign for Chief Justice'''
For the race to succeed Perry Hooper, who was retiring as ]'s chief justice, Rove lined up support for See from a majority of the state's important Republicans. The See campaign significantly outspent the opposition, but See was badly beaten by ], who succeeded in making the race about religion.

===] George W. Bush presidential campaign and the sale of Rove + Co.===
In early 1999, Rove sold his 20-year-old direct-mail business,
'''Rove + Co.''', which provided campaign services to candidates, along with '''Praxis List Company''' (in whole or part) to Ted Delisi and Todd Olsen, two young political operatives who had worked on campaigns of some other Rove candidates. Rove helped finance the sale of the company, which had 11 employees. Selling '''Karl Rove + Co.''' was a condition that ] had insisted on before Rove took the job of chief strategist for Bush's presidential bid.<ref name="nerdbehind"/>

During the bitterly-contested ], allegations were made that Rove was responsible for a ] push poll that used ] innuendo intended to undermine the support of Bush rival ]: "Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain for president if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?"
<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/articles/2004/03/21/the_anatomy_of_a_smear_campaign/|title=The Anatomy of a Smear Campaign| author=Richard H. Davis| date=2004-03-21|publisher=Boston Globe}}</ref> Although McCain campaign manager Richard Davis said he "had no idea who had made those calls, who paid for them, or how many were made", the authors of the 2003 book and subsequent film ''Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential'',
<ref>] entry on </ref> allege that Rove was involved. In the movie, John Weaver, political director for McCain's 2000 campaign bid, says "I believe I know where that decision was made; it was at the top of the campaign". Rove has denied any such involvement. <ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/2007/03/rove-responds-to-2000-south-carolina.html|author=Alexander Mooney and Robert Yoon|publisher=CNN|date=] ]|title=Rove responds to 2000 South Carolina campaign allegation}}</ref>

After the presidential elections in November ], Rove organized an emergency response of Republican politicians and supporters to go to Florida to assist the Bush campaign's position during the ].

==George W. Bush Administration==
George W. Bush was first inaugurated in January 2001, and Rove accepted a position in the Bush administration as Senior Advisor to the President. The President's confidence in Rove has been so strong that during a meeting with ]n president ] on ] ], he brought only Rove and then-] ]. Rove has played a significant role in shaping policy at the White House. One oft-cited example is that terror warnings were regularly made at times when ]'s ratings rose during the ]. Another is the 2006 announcement that planned terrorist attacks had been thwarted, which was made soon after the Bush administration's ] program was discovered. Rove was reassigned from his policy development role to one focusing on strategic and tactical planning in April 2006, the same month that ] replaced ] as ].<ref>{{cite journal| url= http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-04-19-whitehouseshakeup_x.htm | publisher=USA Today|title=White House 'transition' continues|author=David Jackson and Richard Benedetto | date=2006-04-20}}</ref>

===White House Iraq Group===
In ] and ] Rove chaired meetings of the ] (WHIG), a secretive internal White House ] established by August 2002, eight months prior to the ]. According to ] and '']'', WHIG was charged with developing a strategy for publicizing the White House's assertion that ] posed a threat to the United States.<ref name="leakprobe">{{cite news
| url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/05/cia.leak.probe/
| title=Air Force One records subpoenaed in CIA leak probe
| publisher=CNN
| author=Kelli Arena
| date=] ]
| accessdate = 06-12-14}}</ref> WHIG's existence and membership was first identified in a ''Washington Post'' article by ] and ] on ] ]; members of WHIG included Bush’s ] ], Rice, her deputy ], Vice President ]’s Chief of Staff ], legislative liaison ], and communication strategists ], ], and James R. Wilkinson.

Quoting one of WHIG's members without identifying him or her by name, the ''Washington Post'' explained that the task force's mission was to “educate the public” about the threat posed by Saddam and (in the reporters' words) “to set strategy for each stage of the confrontation with ].” Rove's "strategic communications" task force within WHIG helped write and coordinate speeches by senior Bush administration officials, emphasizing in September 2002 the theme of Iraq's purported nuclear threat.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A39500-2003Aug9 | title=Depiction of Threat Outgrew Supporting Evidence| author=Barton Gellman and Walter Pincus| publisher=Washington Post| date=2001-08-10}}</ref>

The White House Iraq Group was “little known” until a ] for its notes, email, and attendance records was issued by ] investigator ] in January 2004, a legal move first reported in the press and acknowledged by the White House on ] ].<ref name="leakprobe"/><ref>{{cite news
| url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2002452876_leak26.html
| title=The CIA leak: Infighting, grudges, justifying a war
| publisher=CNN
| author=Tom Hamburger and Sonni Efron
| date=] ]
| accessdate = 06-12-14}}</ref>

===Allegations of conflict of interest===
In March ], Rove met with executives from ] and successfully advocated a merger between a ] company and an Intel company supplier. Rove owned $100,000 in Intel stock at the time but had been advised by ], the White House's transition counsel, to defer selling the stock in January to obtain ethics panel approval. Rove offered no advice on the merger which needed to be approved by a joint ]-] panel since it would give a foreign company access to sensitive military technology.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A63145-2001Jun13&notFound=true| title=Bush Aide Who Held Intel Stock Met Executives Seeking Merger| first=John| last= Mintz| publisher=
Washington Post| date=] ]| pages= A14 }}</ref> In June 2001, Rove met with two pharmaceutical industry lobbyists. At the time, Rove held almost $250,000 in drug industry stocks. On ] ], Rove divested his stocks in 23 companies, which included more than $100,000 in each of ], ], ], and ]. The same day, the White House confirmed reports that Rove had been involved in administration energy policy meetings while at the same time holding stock in energy companies including Enron.

===Criticized "liberal response" to 9/11===
At a fund-raiser in ] for the ] in June 2005, Rove said, "Conservatives saw the savagery of ] in the attacks and prepared for war; ]s saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers." Democrats demanded Rove's resignation or an apology, and pointed out that every Democrat in the Senate voted for military force against ] in retaliation for the September 11 attacks in the United States; however they got neither.<ref> Page 115 STAT. 224 Public Law 107-40 107th Congress Joint Resolution</ref><ref></ref>

], an organization founded in October 2001 by families of some of those who died in the terrorist attack, requested Rove "stop trying to reap political gain in the tragic misfortune of others".
<ref>http://www.familiesofseptember11.org/news.aspx?s=5#1352</ref> In contrast, the Bush administration characterized Rove's comments as "very accurate" and stated that the calls for an apology were "somewhat puzzling", since he was "simply pointing out the different philosophies when it comes to winning the ]."<ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8324598/ | title=White House defends Rove over 9/11 remarks| publisher=MSNBC (Associated Press)| date=2005-06-24}} </ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://mediamatters.org/items/200506240003| title=Fox News' Special Report parroted White House spin that Rove comments referred to two "philosophies," not two parties| publisher=Media Matters| date = 2005-06-24}}</ref>

===] George W. Bush presidential campaign===
Bush publicly thanked Rove and called him "the architect" in his 2004 victory speech, after defeating John Kerry in the ].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/11/20041103-3.html| title=President Bush Thanks Americans in Wednesday Acceptance Speech| publisher=White House press release| date= 2004-11-03}}</ref>

During the campaign, critics alleged that Rove had professional ties to the producers of the ] television ads that criticized Kerry's Vietnam-era military service and public testimony against American soldiers, although no evidence of Rove's direct involvement was ever produced.<ref>http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/08/19/politics/campaign/20040820swift_graph.gif</ref>

A few months after the election, ] ] (D-NY) publicly alleged that Rove engineered the ] controversy during the 2004 campaign, by planting fake anti-Bush documents with ] to deflect attention from Bush's service record during the ]. Other than Rove's supposed ], however, no evidence supporting this speculation has ever been publicized. Rove himself has denied any involvement, and Hinchey himself admitted he had no evidence to support this claim.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/02/22/hinchey2.htm | title= Hinchey sees hand of Rove| author=Paul Brooks| publisher=Times Herald-Record (Middletown, NY)|date=2005-02-22 }}</ref>,<ref>http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040922-101433-4296r.htm</ref>

===Administration response to Hurricane Katrina===
In August 2005, Bush assigned Rove to oversee the administration's political 'damage control' effort following ] in ].

===Plame affair===
{{main|Plame affair}}

On ] ], retired ambassador ] claimed that Rove leaked the identity of Wilson's wife, ], as a ] employee,<ref name="timeline">{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2005/07/21/politics/20050722leak_graphic.html | title=Timeline of Plame affair | author=New York Times | date=] ]}}</ref> allegedly in retaliation for Wilson's op-ed in '']'' in which he criticized the Bush administration's citation of the ] among the justifications for the ] enumerated in Bush's 2003 ]. Wilson further claimed that as his wife was a CIA "operative" this was a criminal act.

On ] ], prosecutors determined there was no reason to charge Rove with any wrongdoing.<ref name="noindict">{{cite news | url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/13/rove.cia/ | title=Lawyer: Rove won't be charged in CIA leak case | author=CNN|date=] ]}}</ref> Though the Plame investigation continues, Fitzgerald stated previously that "very rarely do you bring a charge in a case that's going to be tried in which you ever end a ] investigation. I can tell you that the substantial bulk of the work of this investigation is concluded." In late August 2006 it became known that ] was responsible for the leak. The investigation led to felony charges being filed against ] for ] and ]. Eventually, Libby was found guilty by a jury. One juror announced that she felt that Libby was being used as a scapegoat and wondered why Rove himself wasn't charged.<ref name="WheresRove">{{cite news | last=Sniffen| first=Michael | coauthors=Matt Apuzzo| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070306/cia-leak-trial? | title=Libby Found Guilty in CIA Leak Trial | publisher=Associated Press | date=] | | accessdate = 2007-03-09}}</ref>

====Rove's email to Hadley====
In an email sent by Rove to top White House security official ] immediately after his ] ] discussion with ], Rove claimed that he tried to steer Cooper away from allegations Wilson was making about faulty Iraq intelligence. "Matt Cooper called to give me a heads-up that he's got a ] story coming", Rove wrote to Hadley. "When he finished his brief heads-up he immediately launched into ]. Isn't this damaging? Hasn't the president been hurt? I didn't take the bait, but I said if I were him I wouldn't get '']'' far out in front on this." Rove made no mention to Hadley in the e-mail of having leaked Plame's CIA identity, nor of having revealed classified information to a reporter, nor of having told the reporter that certain sensitive information would soon be declassified.<ref name="email">{{cite news | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2005/07/15/national/w161250D87.DTL | title=Rove E-Mailed Security Official About Talk | author=John Solomon | publisher=Associated Press|date=] ]}}</ref> Although Rove wrote to Hadley (and perhaps testified) that the initial subject of his conversation with Cooper was welfare reform and that Cooper turned the conversation to Wilson and the Niger mission, Cooper disputed this suggestion in his grand jury testimony and subsequent statements: "I can't find any record of talking about with him on ] , and I don't recall doing so", Cooper said.<ref name="cooper">{{cite news | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1083899,00.html | title=What I Told the Grand Jury | author=Matt Cooper | publisher=Time | date=] ]}}</ref>

====Karl Rove revealed as one source of ''TIME'' article====
{{wikinews|Karl Rove named as a source of Plame leak}}

On ] ], ''Newsweek'' posted a story from its July 18 print edition which quoted one of the e-mails written by ''Time'' reporter ] in the days following the publication of Wilson's op-ed piece.<ref name="isikoff">{{cite news | url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8525978/site/newsweek/ | title=Matt Cooper's Source | author=Michael Isikoff | publisher=Newsweek|date=] ]}}</ref> Writing to ''TIME'' bureau chief Michael Duffy on ] ], three days before Novak's column was published, Cooper recounted a two-minute conversation with Karl Rove "on ]" in which Rove said that Wilson's wife was a CIA employee: "it was, KR said, Wilson's wife, who apparently works at the agency on WMD issues who authorized the trip". In a ''TIME'' article released ] ], Cooper says Rove ended his conversation by saying "I've already said too much."

In addition, Rove told Cooper that CIA Director ] did not authorize Wilson's trip to Niger, and that "not only the genesis of the trip is flawed an suspect but so is the report" which Wilson made upon his return from Africa. Rove "implied strongly there's still plenty to implicate Iraqi interest in acquiring uranium fro Niger", gave Cooper a "big warning" not to "get too far out on Wilson". Cooper recommended that his bureau chief assign a reporter to contact the CIA for further confirmation, and indicated that the tip should not be sourced to Rove or even to the White House.

Cooper testified before a grand jury on ] ], confirming that Rove was the source who told him Wilson's wife was an employee of the CIA. In the ] ] ''TIME'' article detailing his grand jury testimony, Cooper wrote that Rove never used Plame's name nor indicated that she had covert status, although Rove did apparently convey that certain information relating to her was classified: "As for Wilson's wife, I told the grand jury I was certain that Rove never used her name and that, indeed, I did not learn her name until the following week, when I either saw it in Robert Novak's column or ]d her, I can't recall which,... was it through my conversation with Rove that I learned for the first time that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA and may have been responsible for sending him? Yes. Did Rove say that she worked at the 'agency' on 'W.M.D.'? Yes. When he said things would be declassified soon, was that itself impermissible? I don't know. Is any of this a crime? Beats me."<ref name="cooper">{{cite news | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1083899,00.html | title=What I Told the Grand Jury | author=Matt Cooper | publisher=Time | date=] ]}}</ref>
On ] ], journalist ] reported that ] and FBI officials had recommended appointing a special prosecutor to the case because they felt that Rove had not been truthful in early interviews, withholding from FBI investigators his conversation with Cooper about Plame and maintaining that he had first learned of Plame's CIA identity from a journalist whose name Rove could not recall.<ref name="waas">{{cite news | url=http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0533,waasweb1,66861,2.html | title=What Now, Karl? | author=Murray Waas | publisher=The Village Voice | date=] ]}}</ref>

Following the revelations in the Libby indictment, sixteen former CIA and military intelligence officials urged Bush to suspend Rove's security clearance for his part in ] CIA officer Valerie Plame.<ref name="outing">{{cite news | url=http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/13175855.htm | title=Ex-intelligence officials want Rove's security clearance suspended | author=Warren P. Strobel | publisher=Knight Ridder | date=] ]}}</ref>

Rove's attorney, ], told reporters on ] ] that he had received notification from Fitzgerald indicating that Rove would not be charged with any crimes in the investigation into the leak of Plame's identity, effectively ending the matter for Rove.
On ] ], freelance journalist ], writing for '']'', claimed that Rove had been served with an indictment: " instructed one of the attorneys to tell Rove that he has 24 hours to get his affairs in order."<ref name="leopold">{{cite news | url=http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051206Y.shtml | title=Rove Informs White House He Will Be Indicted | author=Jason Leopold | publisher=Truthout.org|date=] ]}}</ref> This was met by a categorical denial from a Rove spokesman. Rumors of Rove's possible impending indictment swirled through the ] multiple times in the spring of ].

On ] ], Novak said that Rove had discussed Plame with him. On July 15, Rove's lawyers said that Rove told Novak he had "heard that, too", in reference to Plame's status as a CIA employee, but was unaware at the time of the name "Valerie Plame". Rove claims to have learned of her name from his conversation with Novak.<ref name="novaksource">{{cite news | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/15/AR2005071500036.html | title=Rove Confirmed Plame Indirectly, Lawyer Says | author=Mike Allen | publisher=Washington Post | date=] ]}}</ref>
*On ] ], Plame sued Cheney, Rove, Libby, and others, accusing them of conspiring to destroy her career.<ref name="lawsuit">{{cite news | url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13845613/ | title=Plame sues White House figures over CIA leak | author=Associated Press | date=] ]}}</ref>

===2006 Congressional elections and beyond===
On ] ], two weeks before the ], in an interview with ]'s ], Rove insisted that his insider polling data forecast Republican retention of both houses:

:SIEGEL: I'm looking at all the same polls that you are looking at.

:ROVE: No, you are not. I'm looking at 68 polls a week for candidates for the US House and US Senate, and Governor and you may be looking at 4-5 public polls a week that talk attitudes nationally.

:SIEGEL: I don't want to have you to call races...

:ROVE: I'm looking at all of these Robert and adding them up. I add up to a Republican Senate and Republican House. You may end up with a different math but you are entitled to your math and I'm entitled to ''the'' math.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.npr.org/about/press/061024_rove.html
|publisher=]
|date=2006-10-24
|accessdate = 2006-11-18
|title=''] (transcript)
}}</ref>
In the election the ] won both houses of Congress. The ''White House Bulletin'', published by Bulletin News, cited rumors of Rove's impending departure from the White House staff: "'Karl represents the old style and he’s got to go if the Democrats are going to believe Bush’s talk of getting along,' said a key Bush advisor."<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/17/rove-departure/
|publisher=Bulletin News cited on the blog of the ]
|date=2006-11-17
|accessdate = 2006-11-18
|title=REPORT: Karl Rove May Be Leaving The White House In ‘Weeks, Not Months’
}}
</ref> However, while allowing that many Republican members of Congress are "resentful of the way he and the White House conducted the losing campaign", the '']'' also stated that, "White House officials say President Bush has every intention of keeping Mr. Rove on through the rest of his term."<ref name='NYT_Tough_Road>{{cite web
|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/19/washington/19rove.html
|publisher='']''
|date=2006-11-19
|accessdate = 2006-11-19
|title=A Tough Road Ahead for Rove
|author=Jim Rutenberg and ]
}} </ref>

Prior to the election, Rove voiced impatience with the notion that his own reputation is on the ballot. He told the ''Washington Post'', "I understand some will see the election as a judgment on me, but the fact of the matter is that, look what has been set in motion -- a broader, deeper, strengthened Republican Party, and with an emphasis on grass-roots neighbor-to-neighbor politics, is going to continue."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/29/AR2006102900753.html | title=Midterm Vote May Define Rove's Legacy | publisher=The Washington Post | author=Michael Abramowitz | date=] ]}}</ref> After the election, Rove continued to express optimism, telling the ''Post'', "The Republican philosophy is alive and well and likely to reemerge in the majority in 2008." Rove also told the ''Post'' that the GOP election strategy was working until the ] put the Republican campaign "back on its heels." Rove added "We were on a roll, and stopped it...It revived all the stuff about ] and added to it."

In Rove's analysis, 10 of the 28 House seats Republicans lost were sacrificed because of various scandals. Another six, he said, were lost because incumbents did not recognize and react quickly enough to the threat. Rove argued that, without corruption and complacency, Republicans could have kept narrow control of the House regardless of Bush's troubles and the war.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/11/AR2006111101103.html | title=Rove Remains Steadfast in the Face of Criticism | publisher=The Washington Post | author=Peter Baker | date=] ]}}</ref>

In analyzing the results of the 2006 midterm election, Rove told
''Time'', "The profile of corruption in the exit polls was bigger than I'd expected ... Abramoff, lobbying, ] and ] added to the general distaste that people have for all things Washington, and it just reached critical mass... Iraq mattered, but it was more frustration than it was an explicit call for withdrawal. If this was a get-out-now call for withdrawal, then ] would not have been beaten by ]. Iraq does play a role, but not the critical, central role." Again, Rove expressed optimism for the future of the ], and defended the role of the Republican get-out-the-vote program he helped invent. He told ''Time'',
"I see this as much more of a transient, passing thing ... he Republican Party remains at its core a small-government, low-tax, limit-spending, traditional-values, strong-defense party. I see the power of the ideas, even in a tough year ... People were talking 35, 40 or more and it didn't happen. There were a number of elections which were supposed to be close and ended up not being close."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://time-blog.com/allen_report/2006/11/the_architect_speaks.html | title=The Architect Speaks | publisher=Time magazine | author=MIKE ALLEN | date=] ]}}</ref> He added that he has "fundamental confidence in the power of the underlying agenda of this President", and cited fighting the war on terror, tax cuts, ], welfare, and legal reform, reauthorization of ], reducing ]s, restrained spending.

In the ] ] issue of ''Newsweek'', GOP activist ] described how Rove showed up at a weekly meeting of influential D.C. conservatives early in the month, surprising attendees with his bubbly demeanor after weeks of rumors that he might be headed out. Norquist was quoted as saying "I think some people had given him up for dead, but he was good old Karl, upbeat and enthusiastic." At the meeting Rove previewed Bush's final two years in office, saying ] reform was likely off the table and that Iraq and the economy would be the biggest issues for ]. "I don't know anyone who holds him personally responsible for what happened to us in the election", said a GOP national committee member, who declined to be named talking about the inner circle. "But his stature isn't quite the same." According to ''Newsweek'', "behind the scenes, according to administration officials (anonymous in order to discuss White House matters), Rove has been laying the groundwork for Bush's State of the Union address and mulling how the GOP can regain momentum in 2008 ... Rove has been busy trying to find common ground with Dems, organizing two meetings between Bush and the ], a coalition of conservative lawmakers who offer the White House its best chance at compromise with the new Congress. Rove also sat in on many of Bush's meetings with members of Congress in recent weeks about Iraq."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16721090/site/newsweek/ | title=Still Busy—But Staying Out of the Spotlight | author=Holly Bailey | publisher=Newsweek | date=] ] issue}}</ref>
{{-}}

===Firing of US Attorneys===
{{Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy}}
{{main|Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy}}

], chairman of the ] Republican Party, said he complained in 2005 about then-U.S. Attorney ] to a White House aid for Rove, asking that Iglesias be removed.<ref name="RoveGone">{{cite news | url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17560718/ | title=Report: Rove was urged to oust U.S. attorney | publisher=] | date=] ]| first= | last= | accessdate = 2007-03-12}}</ref> Then in 2006 Rove personally told Weh “He’s gone,” Rove said.<ref name="RoveGone" /> Weh was dissatisfied with Iglesias due in part to his failure to indict Democrats in a voter fraud investigation. Weh followed up with, "There’s nothing we’ve done that’s wrong."<ref name="RoveGone" /> The White House spokeswoman, ], has said that Rove "wasn’t involved in who was going to be fired or hired."<ref name="RoveGone" />

According to ''Newsweek'', ], ]' chief of staff, developed the list of eight prosecutors to be fired last October, with input from the White House.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17552880/site/newsweek/page/2/ | title=Fuel to the Firings | publisher=] | date=] ]| first=Michael | last=Isikoff | accessdate = 2007-03-12}}</ref>

], a former Rove aide, was the a replacement for fired attorney ].<ref>{{cite news | url=http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/13/fired.emails/ | title=E-mails lay out plan to dismiss U.S. attorneys | publisher=] | date=] ]| first= | last= | accessdate = 2007-03-12}}</ref> Specifically, Sampson sent an email that stated "The vast majority of U.S. attorneys, 80-85 percent I would guess, are doing a great job, are loyal Bushies, etc., etc." Later in the e-mail, Sampson wrote that home-state senators may resist replacing prosecutors "they recommended. That said, if Karl thinks there would be political will to do it, then so do I."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/03/15/national/w170841D32.DTL&type=politics | title=GOP Support for Gonzales Erodes Further | publisher=] | date=] ]| first=Laurie | last=Kellman | accessdate = 2007-03-15}}</ref>

On ] ] former U. S. Senator ] said he believes Rove was trying to influence the selection in reaction to pressure from Rep. ], then speaker of the House, and allies of then-Gov. ], who knew Fitzgerald was seeking someone from outside Illinois to attack political corruption.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703140213mar14,1,2314396.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true | title=Fitzgerald: Rove tried to limit choice | publisher=] | date=] ]| first=Andew | last=Zajac | accessdate = 2007-03-12}}</ref>

In emails released by Congress on ] ], Rove raised the idea of firing all 93 Attorneys in early January 2005. <ref>{{cite news | url=http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2954988&page=1 | title= E-Mails Show Rove's Role in U.S. Attorney Firings | publisher=] | date=] ]| first=Jan | last=Greenburg | accessdate = 2007-03-12}}</ref>

On ] ], Senator ], chairman of the ], announced that the committee was issuing a subpoena for Rove to appear personally before the committee and testify, following the testimony of Attorney General ] on the U.S. Attorney dismissal controversy and other matters.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/26/washington/26cnd-gonzales.html</ref>

===E-Mail scandal===
{{Main|Bush White House e-mail controversy}}
Due to investigations into White House staffers' e-mail communication related to the firing of ], it was discovered that many White House staff members, including Rove, had exchanged documents using ] e-mail servers such as '''gwb43.com'''<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1319467820070413 | title=Rove in new controversy over e-mails | publisher=Reuters | author=Steve Holland | date=] ]}}</ref>, or personal e-mail accounts with third party providers such as ]<ref>{{cite news | title=E-mail Controversy Prompts Many Aides To Stop Usage | publisher=US News & World Report | author=Paul Bedard | date=] ]}}</ref>, considered a violation of the ]. Over 500 of Rove's emails were mistakenly sent to a parody web site, who forwarded them to an investigative reporter<ref></ref>.

Suspicion of involvement in providing the potentially illegal e-mail accounts was cast on two ] companies, Smartech Corporation and ]. Coptix received national media attention during the first week of April, in which they created and distributed a ] photo of Rove making him appear to be holding a folder with the Coptix logo on the cover. This was shown to have been a "prank"<ref>Michael Davis, , ''The Chattanooga Times Free Press'', ] ].</ref> and was called an "experiment."<ref>Josiah Roe, , The Chattanooga Times Free Press, April 04, 2007</ref> Blogs such as ] - which called the hoax photo "a crime scene"<ref>Brit Hume, , ] ] ].</ref> - and ] ran the doctored photo and claimed (as Wonkette put it) that it proved "without a doubt that Karl Rove is illegally running all the White House e-mail through a private company" to avoid the automatic archiving of the White House email system.<ref>Jon Ward, , '']'' ] ].</ref> The faked photograph contained ]s on a television in the background of the photo.

===Investigation by the Office of Special Counsel===
On ] ], it was revealed that Rove is being investigated by the ] for his involvement in the email scandal, the firing of US attorneys, and for "improper political influence over government decision-making."<ref name=Hamburger>Tom Hamburger, , '']'' ] ], rpt. in '']'', accessed ] ].</ref> In response to this investigation and other pending complaints, 2004 Democratic candidate for ] and current 2008 presidential hopeful ] initiated a ] drive calling for Bush to fire Rove.<ref name=EdwardsRovepetition>, garnering over 32,000 signatures by ] ] before the first presidential Democratic candidates' debate, announcing that he would discuss this position during it; by the day after the debate, the petition had accumulated nearly 50,000 signatures.</ref>

===Don Siegelman's conviction controversies===

Former Democratic ] ]<ref>http://www.donsiegelman.org/</ref> was convicted in ] for on charges of bribery, conspiracy and mail fraud. However, many people believed he was a victim of politically-directed trial led by Karl Rove. Siegelman, who very narrowly lost re-election in ] to Republican Representative ], was consider by Republicans as the most serious opponent for Riley in 2006 election, because of his popularity and record as Governor (Siegelman was defeated in the Democratic primary by ] ], who went to lose to Riley by wide margin in November).

There are rumors that the ] and Rove, as chief GOP political strategist, manipulated the court and the prosecution of Siegelman to destroy him politically.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-siegelman26jun26,1,3825613.story | title=Ex-governor says he was target of Republican plot | author=Los Angeles Times | date=] ]}}</ref>

===Resignation from the White House===
In a ] interview published on ] ], Rove revealed that he would resign from the Administration effective ]. Having originally floated the idea of resigning in mid-2006, Rove opted to stay with the White House through the ] and a number of policy debates in the first half of 2007. The resignation falls prior to the ] deadline, set by White House ] ], for any senior aides wishing to leave the administration prior to the end of President Bush's second term. In a statement, he said, "There's always something that can keep you here, and as much as I'd like to be here, I've got to do this for the sake of my family".<ref>{{cite web|title=Karl Rove tells WSJ he's going to resign at end of August|author=Steve Goldstein|year=2007|work=MarketWatch|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/karl-rove-tells-wsj-hes/story.aspx?guid=%7B22CBAD43-022C-4247-AF9D-A0F16F396828%7D|accessdate=2007-08-13}}</ref>
Rove is expected to return to Texas following his resignation. He has indicated that he may write a book detailing his career in politics.

==Miscellaneous comments about and by Rove in the media==
{{Wikiquote}}
<!--Whole section needs full citations to reliable verifiable sources and to be checked for appropriateness of inclusion, following ] and ]; see talk page.-->

] advisor Karl Rove as ] in the television series '']'']]

* On ] ], Rove was named by ] as the "Most Fascinating Person" of the year.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

* On ] ], Rove said George W. Bush was "one of the most intellectually gifted presidents we've had."{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

* ] as "The Boy Genius," "The Architect", and "]",<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,107219,00.html|title=The Busiest Man in the White House| author=James Carney and John F. Dickerson| date=2004-01-22| publisher=Time}}</ref> a ] term for a flower that grows from a pile of ].<ref> {{cite web| url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050713.wxrove13/BNStory/International/ | title=Scandal dogs Republican mastermind| author=Alan Freeman| date=2005-07-13|publisher=globeandmail.com (subscription)}}</ref>

* He has often been referred to as "Bush's Brain" <ref> {{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3987237.stm |title=Drawing up blueprints for Bush victory| publisher=BBC| date=2004-11-06|author=Rachel Clarke}} </ref>.

* His unique take on political strategy has inspired journalists to coin the term "Rovism". "All politicians operate within an ] nimbus where words don't mean what they normally mean, but Rovism posits that there is no objective, verifiable reality at all. Reality is what you say it is, ..." - ], ] {{Fact|date=May 2007}}

* Rove is a ]. According to ]'s recent book, Rove is obsessed with the "historical duplicity" of the ], who ] back in 1814. According to Woodward, this ] manifested itself as hatred for Swedish weapons inspector ].{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

* ] wrote in '']'' that one of Rove's heroes is ], President ]'s political adviser. {{Fact|date=May 2007}}

* The 2004 political documentary '']'' "…depicts Rove as the most powerful political consultant in American history and, in essence, a co-president" according to '']'''s South by Southwest film festival review.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2004-03-11-southwest-film-fest_x.htm | title=Politics galore at South by Southwest film festival | author=Associated Press| publisher=USA Today| date= 2004-03-11}} </ref>

* An episode (''Deacon Stan, Jesus Man'') of the FOX-TV animated satire, '']'', depicted Rove as a shadowy figure clad in a red robe and cowl; bears a strong resemblance to ], the iconic villain from the '']'' series. Whenever his name is said a wolf howls; when he tries to enter a church, he begins to burn and emits smoke. He has messages delivered to him on scrolls by bats and he later departed the scene by transforming into a colony of bats.

*The short-lived television show '']'' depicted Rove as a scheming political advisor to President Bush, playing the 'straight man' to George and Laura Bush, who were portrayed as over-the-top dimwits. {{Fact|date=May 2007}}

* On ] ], Australian Opposition Leader ] offered his condolences to the family of ] on the day of her funeral. However, instead of referring to Emmett's widower ], Beazley mistakenly offered condolences to Karl Rove.<ref>], aired ] ] on ].</ref><ref>, '']'', ] ].</ref>

* On ] ], Rove was persuaded to participate in an improvised ] song at a ] dinner in Washington by improvisors ] and ] of '']'' fame. A video of the event, showing Rove attempting to dance to the rap and referring to himself as "MC Rove" has since spread on the Internet. At the event, Rove also claimed that his hobbies include ripping off the heads of animals and stamp collecting. <ref></ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://cbs5.com/seenon/local_story_087232314.html| title=Caught On Tape: Bush Adviser Karl Rove Raps| date=2007-03-29| publisher=CBS5 KPIX (San Francisco)}}</ref>

* When discussing his new book '']'', ] was asked by '']'' if "anyone in the Bush administration confided in about being an ]?", he replied, "Well, I don’t talk that much to them &mdash; maybe people think I do. I know something which is known to few but is not a secret. Karl Rove is not a believer, and he doesn’t shout it from the rooftops, but when asked, he answers quite honestly. I think the way he puts it is, “I’m not fortunate enough to be a person of faith.”<ref> However, in a discussion with members of the ], Rove, when asked whether or not he is an atheist stated that Hitchens' comments were misleading, saying, "I'm an ] ... God's chosen frozen". Rove went on to state that sometimes his religion overly stresses the importance of moderation and that he "sometimes wish ha as much faith as some of my colleagues". {{cite interview
|last= Hitchens
|first= Christopher
|subjectlink= Christopher Hitchens
|interviewer= Borish Kachka
|title= Are You There, God? It's Me, Hitchens.
|program= New York Magazine
|accessdate= May 8 2007}} </ref>

*In one edition of the comic '']'', Karl Rove tells an Animal Control worker for saying "Fat Bushy Cats" (Rove thought he said "Fatcat Bushies", but it didn't matter to him). He then fires Opus as a hedge trimmer for having a sign that says "Caution: Bush Whacking". The Animal Control worker then states "Karl Rove is out of control!"

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{sisterlinks}}
{{external links}}

===Biographical data===
* - 'Karl Rove' (wiki profile)
* - 'Karl Rove in a Corner: Karl Rove is at his most formidable when running close races, and his skills would be notable even if he used no extreme methods', Joshua Green, '']'' (November, 2004)
*
*
* (Salt Lake Tribune)
* "Karl Rove - The Architect", '']'' Public Broadcasting System (PBS). ] ].
*http://www.counterpunch.org/madsen1101.html
* <cite>Boy Genius: Karl Rove, the Brains Behind the Remarkable Political Triumph of George W. Bush</cite>, Lou Dubose, Jan Reid and Carl Cannon, 2003, Paperback, 256 pages, ISBN 1-58648-192-4.
* <cite>]</cite>, James C. Moore and Wayne Slater, John Wiley and Sons, 2003, hardcover, 416 pages, ISBN 0-471-42327-0, and the film of the same name<ref>http://www.bushsbrain.net</ref>
*

===Editorials===
* - 'Karl Rove, ]'
*
* - ] - 'Karl Rove's America,' (] ])
* - 'It's time for Karl Rove to go: The president needs to ask for a special prosecutor in the Valerie Plame case', Congressman ], ] (] ])
* - 'It Doesn't look good for Rove' contains a legal assessment by ] regarding the state of the Plame scandal.
* - ] - 'Follow the Uranium'
* - ] - 'Where's the Newt?' where he christens the Plame scandal "]" due to his opinion that there is no scandal.
*, on the
* Dickerson, John (] ]). . '']''.

===Media accounts===
* - 'Reporter Says He First Learned of C.I.A. Operative From Rove,' Lorne Manly and David Johnston (] ])
* - 'Drawing up Blueprints for Bush Victory', Rachel Clarke, ] (] ])
* - 'The Controller: Karl Rove is working to get George Bush reelected, but he has bigger plans' (profile), ] '']'' (] ])
* 'The brains' - Profile of Karl Rove - Special Report US Elections 2004, Julian Borger, (] ])
* - '] Analyst and a ] Reporter Say Karl Rove Named in Matt Cooper Documents', Greg Mitchell (] ])
* - 'White House 'Puzzled' Over Rove Flap', ] (] ])
* - 'Karl Rove The Architect' (documentary), ] Frontline (] ])
* - 'Rove rejects charges he was CBS source', Stephen Dinan, Rowan Scarborough, '']'' (] ])
* - 'Lawyer: Cooper "Burned" Karl Rove' - ].
* interview with ], where he states that "my wife was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity", causing much speculation about his intended meaning from both sides.
* - 'Rove Fight Escalates', includes quotes from a former CIA agent who claims that Plame's 'nonofficial cover' did not qualify her as 'a covert agent'. This claim is based on a gross misquote of ''USA Today''.
* ] discusses Rove's efforts to discredit ] and the surrounding scandal] (] ]) (Real Audio)
* - 'The Plame blame: What do we know so far?' contains a recap of what is known to date (] ])
*; provides a link to an amicus brief and also details Plame's name having being outed by the CIA '''prior''' to Novak's article.
* - about Valerie Plame
* - Staff - 'Memo Underscored Issue of Shielding Plame's Identity' - CIA memo at the center of the leak scandal was marked 'sensitive'
* - "Role of Rove, Libby in CIA Leak Case Clearer: Bush and Cheney Aides' Testimony Contradicts Earlier White House Statement"
*
* By John Solomon, ASSOCIATED PRESS, ] ]
* MSNBC, ] ]
* -Rove on the United States Constitution and the separation between church and state in schools, ] ]
* - Rove dancing to the MC Rove rap, clip from C-Span
* from soundslam.com

===News compilations===
* , summary from ''Los Angeles Times'' published ] ].
* - 'Karl Rove Controversy', ], a ]/] media watchdog group.
* , summary compiled by ], a liberal/progressive watchdog group.
* at NewsFollowUp.com

===Satire and blogs===
* from about.com
* - 'Closing in on Karl,' about the possible legal implications, written by lawyer John Hinderaker
* - "Rove Blew CIA Agent's Cover", ], '']'' (] ])
* debunks talking points on Rove/Plame.
* - Live during the 2004 presidential campaign. "If only one candidate has a Karl Rove, it's not a fair presidential race."
* - Follow-on to KerrysKarlRove.com, where the anonablogger channels the savvy of Karl Rove to help the opposition party. "If Only One Party Has a Karl Rove, We Risk Living in a One Party America."

===Photos=== <!-- why is this section needed? -->
*, from washingtonlife.com
*, from ]

===Search compilations===
* - 'Karl Rove' (search engine category)
* - 'Campaign Contribution Search' (Karl Rove's individual political campaign donations of $200 or more, since 1977)
* - 'Karl Rove' (search engine category)
* - 'What we know and when we knew it'

===U.S. Government links===
* - RealVideo of Karl Rove's tour of the ] Roosevelt Room
* , from the Democratic Party's official Senate website

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Revision as of 15:13, 13 August 2007

RAT PRICK