Karl Rove

Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950 in Denver, Colorado) is an American political consultant, and (as of 2005) U.S. President George W. Bush's senior advisor, chief political strategist, and Deputy White House Chief of Staff in charge of policy.

George W. Bush Administration

White House Iraq Group

Rove chaired meetings of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG), a secretive internal White House working group established by August 2002, eight months prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. According to CNN and Newsweek, WHIG was ?charged with developing a strategy for publicizing the White House's assertion that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the United States.?http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/05/cia.leak.probe/ WHIG's existence and membership was first identified in a Washington Post article by Barton Gellman and Walter Pincus on August 10 2003; members of WHIG included George W. Bush?s chief of staff Andrew Card, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Rice's deputy Stephen Hadley, Vice President Cheney?s chief of staff Lewis ?Scooter? Libby, legislative liaison Nicholas E. Calio, and communication strategists Mary Matalin, Karen Hughes, 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 Hussein and (in the reporters' words) ?to set strategy for each stage of the confrontation with Baghdad.? 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.http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A39500-2003Aug9¬Found=true

Related Topics:
White House Iraq Group - 2003 invasion of Iraq - Barton Gellman - Walter Pincus - August 10 - 2003 - Andrew Card - Condoleezza Rice - Stephen Hadley - Lewis ?Scooter? Libby - Nicholas E. Calio - Mary Matalin - Karen Hughes - James R. Wilkinson

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The White House Iraq Group was ?little known? until a subpoena for its notes, email, and attendance records was issued by CIA leak investigator Patrick Fitzgerald in January 2004, a legal move first reported in the press and acknowledged by the White House on March 5, 2004.http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/05/cia.leak.probe/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2002452876_leak26.html

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Allegations of conflict of interest

In March 2001, Rove met with executives from Intel, successfully advocating a merger between a Dutch company and an Intel company supplier. Rove owned $100,000 in Intel stock at the time. In June 2001, Rove met with two pharmaceutical industry lobbyists. At the time, Rove held almost $250,000 in drug industry stocks. On 30 June 2001, Rove divested his stocks in 23 companies, which included more than $100,000 in each of Enron, Boeing, General Electric, and Pfizer. On 30 June 2001, the White House admitted that Rove was involved in administration energy policy meetings,

Related Topics:
Intel - 30 June - 2001 - Enron - Boeing - General Electric - Pfizer

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while at the same time holding stock in energy companies including Enron.

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Allegations of the use of 9/11 tragedy for political gain

June 23, 2005, marked another controversial statement from Rove.

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"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," said Mr. Rove at a fund-raiser in New York City for the Conservative Party of New York State.

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Democrats were angered by this comment, demanding Rove's resignation or an apology. Among other responses, they pointed out that every Democratic Senator voted for military force against Al-Qaeda in retaliation for the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ040.107http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=1&vote=00281#top

Related Topics:
Al-Qaeda - September 11, 2001 attacks

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Families Of September 11, an organization founded in October, 2001 by families of those who died in the terrorist attack, issued a statement requesting Rove "stop trying to reap political gain in the tragic misfortune of others."http://www.familiesofseptember11.org/news.aspx?s=5#1352

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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 war on terrorism."http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8324598/http://mediamatters.org/items/200506240003

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Appointed in charge of administration response to Hurricane Katrina

In August 2005, Rove was assigned by the President to oversee the administration's political 'damage control' effort following Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. After Rove's appointment, the administration was criticized for attempting to shift blame away from the federal government for the failures by claiming that state and local officials (specifically Louisiana Governor Blanco and Mayor Ray Nagin) had not declared a state of emergency at the time http://www.snopes.com/politics/katrina/nagin.asp,http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=10C710DD85B30BA0,http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html,http://www.gov.state.la.us/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=97.

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