Emails Show Rove Involved in U.S. Attorney Firings

The House Judiciary Committee released more than 5,400 pages of White House and RNC e-mails, along with transcripts of closed-door testimony by Rove and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers.

Based on the released information, it's clear that staffers in Rove's office were actively seeking to have U.S. Attorney David Iglesias (NM) removed. For example, in one 2005 e-mail, Rove aide Scott Jennings said to another Rove aide, Tim Griffin, saying, "I would really like to move forward with getting rid of NM US ATTY."

Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the following:

"After all the delay and despite all the obfuscation, lies, and spin, this basic truth can no longer be denied: Karl Rove and his cohorts at the Bush White House were the driving force behind several of these firings, which were done for improper reasons."

Additionally, he added:

“I have provided a copy of the materials released today to special U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy to assist in her effort to determine whether federal criminal charges are appropriate and to pursue any such charges. In the meantime, the Committee has honored its pledge to get on-the-record statements from Karl Rove and Harriet Miers, as well as the relevant White House documents, and is pleased to make this unprecedented collection of Bush Administration materials directly available to the American people by posting it online."

Karl Rove issued a statement saying the documents show he played no role in the firings. Eh?