Rove Tight-Lipped After Grilling Over Attorney Firings

(NEWSER) - Karl Rove is on the hot seat tomorrow. The former Bush adviser will be interviewed by federal prosecutors as part of a criminal investigation into the firings of US attorneys in 2006, the Washington Post reports. Rove will meet with Connecticut prosecutor Nora R. Dannehy, who has been charged with figuring out whether Bush officials misled investigators looking into the dismissals. More»

(NEWSER) - Karl Rove was intimately involved in the firing of at least three of the US Attorneys sacked for purportedly political reasons during the Bush administration, emails obtained by the Washington Post show. One note mentions a senator who “asked that we remove the US Atty” and “couldn’t be more serious about this request.” Though Rove says, “I’m not even sure I was still there”—he was—the attorney was fired. More»

(NEWSER) - The House Judiciary Committee released documents today that Democrats say put Karl Rove and former Bush counsel Harriet Miers at the center of the US attorney firing scandal, Politico reports. “Karl Rove and his cohorts at the Bush White House were the driving force behind several of these firings,” says panel chief John Conyers. In particular, Rove and his staffers sought to oust the US attorney in New Mexico because he failed to prosecute corruption cases against Democrats—and thus help a Republican congresswoman in a tight race, reports the Washington Post. More»

Had refused to take part in earlier investigation

(NEWSER) - In a reversal, Karl Rove will cooperate with a federal investigation into the firings of nine US attorneys, Talking Points Memo reports. Rove had refused to cooperate in an earlier inquiry on the firings, which Justice Department officials said severely “hindered” the inquiry. A lawyer for Rove says the earlier refusal was mandated by the White House counsel: “It was not up to us decide." More»

Attorney general steps down after months of criticism over politicized Justice Department

(NEWSER) - Alberto Gonzales has resigned, the White House told CNN today, after months of calls for his replacement—and even impeachment—from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle worried that the Justice Department was becoming overly politicized. The AG told President Bush of his intention to step down Friday, following strategist Karl Rove out by just a few weeks. More»