Rove Aide Details Broad Political Abuses

[IChing]

Rove Aide Details Broad Political Abuses
By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t | Report

Wednesday 20 June 2007

In January 2002, at a retreat in West Virginia, Karl Rove gave a PowerPoint presentation to at least 50 managers at the Department of the Interior to discuss polling data, and emphasized the importance of getting Oregon Senator Gordon Smith, a Republican, reelected that year.

The way to get Smith reelected to another term, Rove reportedly told the Interior Department officials, would come via the agency's support of a highly controversial measure: diverting water from the Klamath River Basin to farms in the area that were experiencing unusually dry conditions, thereby supporting the GOP's agricultural base.

Details of Rove's involvement in influencing the Interior Department to reverse its policies with regard to the Klamath River basin have been previously reported. But questions about why a political operative like Rove was influencing agricultural and environmental policy decisions, possibly in violation of the law, and whether he pressured cabinet officials to reverse policy to get Republicans reelected were raised again last month during a sworn deposition Rove's former executive assistant, Susan Ralston, gave to Congressional investigators probing Rove's role in the US attorney scandal and his and other White House officials connections with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.


"Some agencies had more than one political briefing during an election cycle," Ralston said in her deposition. "For example, at Commerce, reportedly, political appointees attended an Office of Political Affairs presentation at the agency and then the secretary with senior Commerce political staff, attended a second private briefing at the White House ... the Office of Political Affairs would draft . They would get information from somebody on staff who ... had experience in polling information and sometimes they did get it from the RNC."

If Rove and other White House officials discussed campaign strategy at federal office buildings, that would appear to be a violation of the Hatch Act. Recently, Congress launched an investigation into a briefing that J. Scott Jennings, the deputy director of political affairs, held at the General Services Administration. In the presentation, Jennings outlined polling data from the 2006 national elections and issued a list of the Republican Party's electoral targets for 2008. Jennings's presentation may violate a law known as the Hatch Act, which prohibits the use of government resources for political purposes.

edited for link: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062007J.shtml

[aquart]

1. Too cheap to hire a hall?

[Wiley50]

2. Too cheap to post a link? n/t

[IChing]

4. updated.....n/t

[malaise]

3. I swear Rove is a fugging

Octopus


How else could he have his hands in every evil deed of these goons.

[Hubert Flottz]

5. Crossed with a slug.

The slime trail is starting to glow in the dark though!

[IChing]

6. Doesn't this implicate that Rove can now be connected and indicted?

To me this looks like it will be a showdown on executive privilege and Congress

[Spazito]

7. Thanks for this, I was wondering why Ralston was asked questions

re the Klamath River basin issue, this articles certainly clarifies why it was an important line of questioning.

[cascadiance]

8. Check out "Battle for the Klamath" on Free Speech TV on June 30th for more info...

... on how this politicized battle was fought originally! I've got it burned onto DVD and it is a good doc that talks on the details of this scam!

http://www.freespeech.org/schedule/index.php?date=20070630

[bobthedrummer]

9. k&r

[Bitwit1234]

10. The thing IS

these republicans were so arrogant and had the impression they were the "ruling class", they thought they could get away with anything. That there was nothing and nobody to stop them. Got fooled didn't they.

[Bandit]

14. Oh did they?

And they have been stopped ...how? Do you believe their underhanded methods have ended?

[loudsue]

15. Actually, they're still getting away with it...

Until the congress actually starts bringing charges against someone, all of this is just an excercise in finger pointing.

It's already obvious that MANY laws have been broken. But the law breakers are free & clear, and have faced no punishment whatsoever. It is obvious to anyone looking on that the "rule of law" has no place anymore in the U.S.

:kick::kick::kick:

[kestrel91316]

11. I'm sick of this. Someone needs to meet with an unfortunate accident.

[AndyTiedye]

12. Time to Do the Frog March, Karl!

[blogslut]

13. good stuff

That octopus pic really does sum up old KKKarl.

[mod mom]

16. Here's Ralston's Deposition:

worth readin if you're following this scandal:

http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070618105351.pdf

[beachmom]

17. Kerry was on top of this from the get go:

http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/cfm/record.cfm?id=210772

09/05/2003

DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO BUSH ADMINISTRATION EFFORTS TO EXERT POLITICAL INFLUENCE ON KLAMATH BASIN DECISION

Decision comes in response to request by Senator John Kerry

WASHINGTON, DC – In response to a request by Senator John Kerry that it investigate whether the Bush Administration exerted political influence over its management of the Klamath River Basin, the Inspector General of the Department of Interior has announced that it has launched an investigation into the matter.
“The Bush Administration has acted as if federal agencies like the Interior Department are a division of the Republican National Committee and at their disposal to give out political favors. The Klamath decision was but one more example of politics dictating policy in the Bush Administration,” said Kerry. “The Klamath decision should have been based on law and science and not a political operative’s agenda, polls, and campaign priorities.”


...

In a letter to Kerry, the Office of Inspector General stated that it will investigate:

1. What would be the normal regulatory process in a matter such as this, assuming that this was an Administrative Procedures Act-governed regulatory matter.

2. What actually did happen in the administrative process in the Klamath Basin matter.

3. How the Klamath Basin matter deviated from the norm (if at all) with special attention being paid to:

a. The science b. Any suppressed information c. Any evidence of political interference

“The agreement by the Interior Department’s Inspector General to investigate this matter to see if political pressure from the White House intimidated staff and influenced policy is a positive development and the appropriate first step. I anxiously await their decision,” Kerry concluded.



Of course, at the time he was accused of "political posturing" and triumphalism. As usual, once again, it turns out he was right.

[bobthedrummer]

18. .

[Supersedeas]

19. Okay, now why hasn't the Dept of Justice opened an investigation!?!