Group claims Karl Rove linked to Jack Abramoff
Friday, July 15, 2005
White House aide Karl Rove, who is under fire for talking to the media about a CIA operative, has ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a Washington group said on Thursday.
Campaign for a Cleaner Congress said Rove hired Susan Ralston as his personal assistant after joining the White House in 2001. Ralston was Abramoff's former assistant [The Texas Observer.]
The group said Rove let Republican activist Grover Norquist, a friend and ally of Abramoff's, call the shots at the White House. "Susan took a message for Rove, and then called Grover to ask if she should put the caller through to Rove. If Grover didn't approve, your call didn't go through." [Washington Monthly]. Ralston has since left the White House.
Rove continues to serve as President Bush's top political adviser. He was a source for media articles about the CIA-employed wife of a Bush administration critic. He confirmed the operative's identity for conservative columnist Robert D. Novak, who was the first to publish the woman's name, The New York Times reported. The paper said Rove told federal investigators that he learned the actual name from another unnamed journalist.