'Wash Post': With Press Spokesman in Untenable Spot, Rove May Have to Go
By E&P Staff
Published: November 03, 2005 7:30 AM ET
NEW YORKA front-page article in the Washington Post today reveals that top White House aides believe Karl Rove must exit the administration, partly because he has made Press Secretary Scott McClellan's job untenable.
The story by Jim VandeHei and Carol Leonnig suggests other problems for Rove, including signs that special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald may be about to indict him, and the belief among many Republicans that Rove, at the minimum, misled the president and the public on his role in the CIA leak case.
But the article also focuses on the McClellan angle.
"A swift resolution is needed in part to ease staff tension, a number of people inside and out of the White House said," according to the article. "Many mid-level staffers inside have expressed frustration that press secretary Scott McClellan's credibility was undermined by Rove, who told the spokesman that he was not involved in the leak, according to people familiar with the case.
"Some aides said Rove told Bush the same thing, though little is known about the precise nature of the president's conversations with his closest political adviser.
"McClellan relayed Rove's denial to reporters from the White House lectern in 2003, and he has not yet offered a public explanation for his inaccurate statements. 'That is affecting everybody,' said a Republican who has discussed the issue with the White House. 'Scott personally is really beaten down by this. Everybody I talked to talks about this'."
Published: November 03, 2005 7:30 AM ET
NEW YORKA front-page article in the Washington Post today reveals that top White House aides believe Karl Rove must exit the administration, partly because he has made Press Secretary Scott McClellan's job untenable.
The story by Jim VandeHei and Carol Leonnig suggests other problems for Rove, including signs that special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald may be about to indict him, and the belief among many Republicans that Rove, at the minimum, misled the president and the public on his role in the CIA leak case.
But the article also focuses on the McClellan angle.
"A swift resolution is needed in part to ease staff tension, a number of people inside and out of the White House said," according to the article. "Many mid-level staffers inside have expressed frustration that press secretary Scott McClellan's credibility was undermined by Rove, who told the spokesman that he was not involved in the leak, according to people familiar with the case.
"Some aides said Rove told Bush the same thing, though little is known about the precise nature of the president's conversations with his closest political adviser.
"McClellan relayed Rove's denial to reporters from the White House lectern in 2003, and he has not yet offered a public explanation for his inaccurate statements. 'That is affecting everybody,' said a Republican who has discussed the issue with the White House. 'Scott personally is really beaten down by this. Everybody I talked to talks about this'."
posted by Jamie @ 11:03 AM
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