The Rap on Karl Rove

(Note to readers: I'm taking some time off; the column will resume soon.)

It seems fitting that even as Karl Rove's politicization of the White House's policy apparatus draws greater scrutiny from Congressional investigators, Rove himself last night was prancing in front of members of the Washington press corps, who appeared to be delighted.

"I'm MC Rove," the political guru yelped as he flailed about in an improvised rap sketch at the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner.

It has to be seen to be believed. Here are video excerpts via C-Span and the AP.) Mary Ann Akers blogs for washingtonpost.com with the details.

Rove is indeed the Bush era's master of ceremonies -- and its leading beat-the-rapper. He is also peculiarly able to charm journalists.

But as the Democratic Congress begins to exert its investigatory powers, Rove's profound influence -- even in areas where his hyper-partisanship is inappropriate -- is increasingly being challenged.

Rove's Influence

David D. Kirkpatrick and Jim Rutenberg write in the New York Times: "Political advisers have had a hand in picking judges and prosecutors for decades, but Mr. Rove exercises unusually broad influence over political, policy and personnel decisions because of his closeness to the president, tenure in the administration and longstanding interest in turning the judiciary to the right. . . .

"In the months before the United States attorneys in New Mexico and Washington State were ousted, Mr. Rove joined a chorus of complaints from state Republicans that the federal prosecutors had failed to press charges in Democratic voter fraud cases. While planning a June 21, 2006, White House session to discuss the prosecutors, for example, a Rove deputy arranged for top Justice Department officials to meet with an important Bush supporter who was critical of New Mexico's federal prosecutor about voter fraud.

"And in Arkansas, newly released Justice Department e-mail messages show, Mr. Rove's staff repeatedly prodded the department's staff to install one of his protégés as a United States attorney by ousting a previous Bush appointee who was in good standing."

Congressional Democrats say they are "focusing on Mr. Rove in part because the administration appeared to have tried to hide his fingerprints. In a February 23 letter to Senate Democratic leaders that was approved by the White House counsel's office, for example, the Justice Department said that no one in the White House had 'lobbied' for any of the eight dismissals, and specifically denied that Mr. Rove had 'any role' in the appointment of the protégé, J. Timothy Griffin, a former Bush campaign operative.

"But the Justice Department officials who drafted the letter had corresponded with Mr. Rove's staff just weeks earlier about how to get the nomination done. On Wednesday night, a department official apologized for inaccuracies in the letter."

Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor write for McClatchy Newspapers about that apology: "'We sincerely regret any inaccuracy,' said the letter from acting Assistant Attorney General Richard A. Hertling to Senate Democrats. It topped a 202-page release of new documents that was turned over for a congressional inquiry into the firings of eight top federal prosecutors last year."