Karl Rove's Awkward Moment

[CatWoman]

Former White House chief strategist Karl Rove wasn't clapping when Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo was given the "Blogger of the Year" award (in absentia) at The Week magazine's Opinion Awards dinner at the Four Seasons hotel Tuesday night.

Marshall won the award for his relentless coverage of the U.S. attorneys firings scandal -- and the White House's behind-the-scenes role in the firings.

Since Rove himself was accused of having a role in the firings, the moment was a bit awkward.

Marshall, who also won a George Polk Award for his work on the story, posted thousands of internal Justice Department e-mails and memos on his blog, which became mandatory reading for anyone following the unfolding scandal.

Just as Marshall was being extolled Tuesday night, Rove, who was subpoenaed by the Senate during the height of the brouhaha, was overheard saying, "There wasn't a shred of evidence in those documents."

Of course, we don't know whether he was referring to the Justice Department documents (that were released publicly) or all those missing White House e-mails, which, by the way, are still M.I.A.

We'll let you know when we hear back from Rove, who we e-mailed earlier for comment.

Rove sure was busy Tuesday night. He also appeared on The O'Reilly Factor doing his best impersonation of Bill Clinton.

For more on The Week awards ceremony, and Rove's role as a panelist on the magazine's panel, check outReason magazine's Web site.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/04/karl_roves_awkward_moment.html

[ck4829]

1. "There wasn't a *shred* of evidence in those documents"

Freudian slip alert!

[DS1]

3. the statement isn't exactly a denial of wrongdoing, either

He's just saying he covered his tracks

[MiniMe]

2. He left off "that will see the light of day"

[Supersedeas]

4. lurking behind the scenes and through the corridors of Fox News