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Karl Rove, one of President Bush’s most important advisers and the architect of his presidential campaigns, is leaving the White House, he announced Monday. The departure of “boy genius” Rove is the latest in the exodus of top staffers from the White House and will undoubtedly leave a hole in Bush’s political operation. However, a Rove-free administration will also rob Democrats and liberal bloggers of one of their favorite targets. Prior to recess, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued a subpoena for Rove to force him to testify before the panel about his role in the firings of several U.S. attorneys. Bush claimed executive privilege to prevent Rove from appearing. In addition, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is investigating whether administration officials are using federal resources for political purposes, a probe that also targets Rove. As part of both investigations, Democrats are trying to determine whether top White House officials are using non-administration accounts, such as those they received from Bush’s presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee, to evade oversight. Rove also played a prominent role in the Valerie Plame-CIA leak case and was asked to appear before a grand jury several times. This led Bush’s opponents to hope that Rove, who is one of the most polarizing figures in this administration, would be indicted. Despite the repeated accusations by liberals and several calls for his resignation, however, he has always remained unscathed, infuriating his opponents even more. The resentment many Democrats have for Rove is displayed in the statements that began being issued upon news of his resignation. “It’s a tragedy that an Administration that promised to unite Americans has instead left us more divided than ever before,” said. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Bush’s opponent in the 2004 race. “Without doubt the architect of that political strategy was Karl Rove, who proved the politics of division may win some elections but cannot govern America.” Leahy, who said Monday that Rove leaves “under a cloud,” vowed that the departure of the key aide would not halt his investigation into the firing of U.S. attorneys. “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,” Leahy stated. |
