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Will Rove Get a Pardon?
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The author of Machiavelli's Shadow: The Rise and Fall of Karl Rove on whether Bush will pardon his longtime advisor.
The end-of-term pardons of George W. Bush have already begun, with pardons granted for everything from tax evasion, to killing endangered wildlife, to cocaine possession.
But one of the hottest topics in Washington these days is whether Karl Rove—the “architect” of Bush’s political career and one of the most controversial figures of his presidency—will get a pardon. At present, Rove, who withstood five grand jury appearances in the case concerning the illegal outing of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson, has not been charged with a crime. But he has been linked to the case involving Justice Department firings of U.S. Attorneys which is still under investigation. He also could face legal exposure on a number of other incidents—ranging from a Texas money laundering scandal to the Abramoff case—if newly empowered Democrats attempt to prosecute wrongdoing during the Bush era down the road.
For Bush, pardoning Rove could put his loyalty to a longtime adviser at odds with his desire to protect his legacy.
A pardon by Bush would be pre-emptive. “It would be very Nixonian,” says Roger Stone, the Republican political consultant. “You know—‘I, Gerald Ford, pardon this guy for any crimes he may have committed.’ It’s certainly been done before.”
For Bush, pardoning Rove could put his loyalty to a longtime adviser at odds with his desire to protect his legacy. The controversial pardons issued by President Bill Clinton on his way out of office in January 2001 still haunt him—a blemish on his record he probably didn’t fully foresee when he issued them. As a result, Bush may consider more carefully the pardons he gives, in an effort to keep from further sullying a legacy defined by disappointment on both the national and international fronts.
So what crimes may have Rove committed, for which he could be pardoned? When Rove left the Bush administration in the summer of 2007, insiders believed he was touched by a handful of scandals that contributed to the air of controversy that had come to define his time in Washington. The political seminars orchestrated by Rove in the White House, complete with PowerPoint side shows indicating how Republicans could win certain key races for seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives, were an obvious violation of the Hatch Act, which forbids the use of government property for political activity.
There was the strong belief among insiders that Rove had additional exposure to the polit ical money-laundering scandal in Texas, where corporate contributions were improperly made by the national Republican Party to state campaigns in Texas, which had ended the career of Tom DeLay, the Majority Whip and a political powerbroker. In addition, Rove may have had a deeper entanglement in the illegal business-dealings that sent flamboyant lobbyist Jack Abramoff to prison—the reason Rove had his assistant Susan Ralston alter his calendar to cover up meetings he had had with Abramoff. Both Rove’s association with Abramoff and his orders to Ralston to alter his calendar were sources of deep concern.
But the scandal that presents Rove with the greatest legal peril was the purging of several United States attorneys at the beginning of Bush’s second term—as well as Rove’s manipulation of the US attorney system in general, as represented by the case of former Governor Don Siegelman of Alabama, whose conviction and imprisonment for an act that was not a crime is now viewed by many observers as nothing short of a political prosecution. Rove had some knowledge of that prosecution, if not outright complicity. Fear over what he might have to reveal concerning his knowledge of or participation in the Siegelman prosecution, not to mention his apparent proclivity to influence US attorneys, seemingly prevented Rove from appearing before the House Judiciary Committee this summer, even after that committee had subpoenaed him to testify. As yet, Rove has still refused to comply with the committee’s subpoena—a flagrant obfuscation by a former government official.
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Flashback
Paul Alexander is the author of Machiavelli’s Shadow: The Rise and Fall of Karl Rove and Man of the People: The Life of John McCain, among others. A member of The Authors Guild and PEN American Center, Paul has been a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
W is already bragging about all his successes--especially in Iraq. This guy is oblivious. He is like Mr. McGoo, stuck in a mire of pig doo-doo, thinking he is at a spa in a plush mud bath. Bugliosi in one of most recent C-Span appearances, said he was sending his new book on Bush as a murderer to every single DA in the country. His biggest fear is that W is going to be able to lounge around for decades, living the good life when he should be in prison for life. Rove was just the Propaganda Minister--although his fingerprints are all over certain illegal prosecutions or prosecutorial omissions. Rove is a liar but he did not set policy. At any rate, I now think that W will not issue blanket pardons when he does not have the faintest idea that he or his team did anything wrong.
Don't Kid Yourselves, EVERYONE gets a Pardon. Even the people that are not guilty will get pardons, Just To Be On The Safe Side. If I was Bush I would do the same thing.
Why should it be just one turkey that gets pardoned?
He WILL be pardoned! The code among "good ol' boy cliques is very much adhered to, even by hypocrital, treacherous morons. W knows if he isn't pardoned he will be roasted. He has orchestrated more damage and pain to more people than any figure in the last 50 or so years. Terminology doesn't even exist that accurately describes the absence of redemption for this scoundrel. If you start listing all he has initiated it would take hours to finish. He should be locked up forever or worse.
"That dislike, however, has not necessarily translated to the public."
That might just be because the guy is brilliant and worth listening to. He's popular for a reason -- and hated for a reason. He's outsmarted quite a few people, who despise him.
Carl Rove is not brilliant and is not worth listening to. He is a traitor to his country. He will get a pardon from Bush because he will tell Bush to do so. Bush does what he is told.
Having said that-- It is a well known fact that Carl orchestrated
the theft of the 04 election so it seems to me that we need to prove it in a court of law. Once that is done we can reverse everything the Bush administration has done including any pardons.
Then we prosecute every one of them.
george pardon carl; and they all live appily everafter in texas never to be hopefully heard from again. have these guys done enough damage to our country in the last 8 years. poor pap bush; must make him sick to see what george has done; who he pals around with. can't u see carl and scotter and george riding off into the sunset.
Who didn't see this coming? Since the beginning of the 2nd term? But first, our legally challenged former AttGen, then Rove, the V-P, Rumey, Scooter, on & on. So where was the "liberal" media w/questions about this issue earlier? Speaking of which, if Gov. P believes Gibson & SK asked hardball questons she obviously does not remember Sam Donaldson.
This guy needs to lay off the cool aid.
Rove will not be charged with anything
The new guy preaching CHANGE had instead loaded up on Clinton cronies. My advise, lock up the young girls!
Screw you
I am not in favor of Presidential pardons under any circumstances but if I was Karl Rove would not be one of them.We still do not know fully his role in the Valerie Plame Scooter Libby situation.
Rove is like the first mate on the biggest pirate ship ever. He and Chaney should not only be prosecuted but keel-hauling also comes to mind.
"That might just be because the guy is brilliant and worth listening to. He's popular for a reason -- and hated for a reason. He's outsmarted quite a few people, who despise him."
Or it could just be that people will basically excuse anything from anyone that agrees with them.
I'm not sure you can call his scummy tactics "outsmarting" someone, either. He's pretty much Limbaugh without a drug problem.
This entire group should not pass go, not collect anything but a slow crush of the jewels, then a public persecution slowly, painfully, tearing those jewels from their mount, in front of all their peers in hell.. When no jewels are present, jalapeno laced super glue with cactus needles inserted one at a time would come close to justice, I hope you get the idea this is not sarcasm.
The thing about Karl Rove is that he is a bully! Despite the fact that he is shrewd and cunning, his is a third-rate mentality. Bush's legacy may be questionable, but his morality has never been in doubt. The irony is that his original chief advisor, the infamous "turd blossom" has no morality at all. It is doubtful he will ever serve prison time regardless of the number of lives and careers he has ruined. But I salute The Daily Beast for keeping a little spotlight on this dark, slimey crawler of a person.
After taking a second look the next day I must repeat the Bush/Cheney montra, "We American's don't torture". (This is sarcasm).
Don't you have to actually be convicted of something before you can get pardoned? Like Rove will ever get convicted of anything! None of the Bush administration seem ever to get convicted. Good luck convicting him.
The real question is will Bush be pardoned. By us.
To be evenhanded, Bush will also pardon Dodd and Frank.
Most of you people are nuts! What the F--- should Bush be in jail for Forestroot? Sending a volunteer army to war is not murder no matter what Crazy Sheehan tells us. Was LBJ indicted for anything that happened with 'Nam? No, and rightfully so. And Rove is obviously quite intelligent. Or how else do you libs explain a man that you hate and believe to be a complete fool (dubya) getting elected twice? Is Bush brilliant and such a better candidate than Gore and Kerry? Methinks it could have something to do with Rove's skills at campaign strategizing and buidling successful candidacies. Now while I maintain the above statements to be true that does not mean that Bush was a great President or that Rove is classy or respectable.
I think things are so bad at the Bush Whitehouse that on the last day of the Bush presidency Bush steps down, Cheney pardon's him and thousands of other people.
It is truly scary that a president can pardon ANYone for crimes as yet unknown? Murder? Treason? Where, if anywhere, is the dividing line on what's okay and what's not? The idea of Rove slipping through the cracks of the judicial system is repugnant to anyone who believes that U.S. law can eventually catch up with a culprit, even if "eventually" means waiting for the term of the Bozo-in-Chief to expire. I earnestly hope that the Democrats start to "lift rocks" and see what crawls out. Rove will be under several of them.
Once again Bill Clinton gets criticized for his pardons while Bush Sr. gets off easy for pardoning Caspar Weinberger. Clinton pardoned Marc Rich because the Isaelis - our strong ally - begged him too. (Oh right, it was because his EX wife gave money to his library. That makes sense.) Bush I pardoned Weingberger because had the REPUBLICAN Iran-Contra independent counsel brought him to trial, Weinberger's diaries would have proved that was up to his neck in the Iran Contra debacle, not out of the loop as he claimed. Bush pardoned Weinberger to save his own neck, yet he has gotten a complete pass from our media. Most people I know don't even know he did this, but they know about the much less egregious Marc Rich pardon.
Also Roger Stone is a slimeball. Why quote him?
He doesn't need one. And the USA doesn't have anything to apologize for. What is going on with all this desire to put Bush administration officials in jail for? Most of the lefties on this site wouldn't defend America under any circumstances in the first place! Bunch of big talkers - more show than go.
"For Bush, pardoning Rove could put his loyalty to a longtime adviser at odds with his desire to protect his legacy."
Bush doesn't know the meaning of the word "legacy." He also thinks he did nothing wrong.
Rove will be pardoned of everything "he might have done wrong." They think he's done no wrong but maybe others think so...
I don't see any way around this conclusion.
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