[Mb-civic] More details on Rove, et.al.

[Linda Hassler]

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      Rove Tied to Tom DeLay Lobbying Scandal
      Campaign for a Cleaner Congress | Press Release

      Thursday 14 July 2005

      Washington - Karl Rove's involvement in leaking the name of a CIA  
operative for political advantage during wartime could be just the tip  
of the iceberg as far as unethical behavior, since his web of influence  
extends to the most notorious figure of the House Lobbying Scandal.

      "It's widely known that Karl Rove has been pulling strings all  
over Washington for years, obviously not just in the case of the Plame  
leak," said Peter L. Kelley, manager of the Campaign for a Cleaner  
Congress.

      "What is not widely known, however, is his close connection with  
Jack Abramoff, who is at the center of the lobbying scandal in which  
Washington is now embroiled. Rove let archconservative operatives like  
Grover Norquist call shots at the White House. And just this week, a  
Texas judge ruled that a former Rove lieutenant must face felony  
charges of money laundering for Tom DeLay's political operation.

      "Without further ethics reforms, the public has virtually no  
ability to find out what is really going on in Washington these days,"  
Kelley said. "But what we do know is starting to smell, and it offers a  
starting point for further investigation."

  *    When Rove got to the White House in 2001, he hired as his  
personal assistant Susan Ralston, previously Abramoff's personal  
assistant. Ralston has since become an insider's insider.
  *    Norquist reportedly made a deal in which Ralston would take  
messages for Rove at the White House, then call Norquist to tell her  
whether she should put the caller through.
  *    John Colyandro wrote direct mail pieces for Rove in the 1980s.  
When he was hired as executive director of the Texans for a Republican  
Majority PAC, he was described as a "longtime pal of Rove's." This  
week, a judge said Colyandro must stand trial for laundering over  
$600,000 in corporate campaign contributions.

      "Could party leaders' abrupt about-face on the Plame case have  
anything to do with the other ethics scandals that have been grabbing  
headlines for months now?" said Kelley. "It seems there are more than a  
few bad apples in this barrel, and they don't like it that the public  
is starting to find out."

   
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      For sources, see CleanerCongress.org.
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