Guest Blogged by Alan Breslauer
I got a chance to meet Karl Rove before he spoke at the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles last night. Here’s the awkward video (33 seconds, below left) of my brief encounter, which was followed by a Q&A with Rove, in which he denied recent charges made against him by a Republican operative in Alabama concerning the prosecution of Alabama’s former Democratic Governor Don Siegelman…
Later, Rove was confronted with a question about Sunday’s 60 Minutes report which included a Republican operative claiming Rove had asked her to perform dirty tricks in order to damage Siegelman’s chances for re-election. Siegelman would later be convicted and sent immediately to prison, without a traditional stay pending appeal, for a crime which the operative, as well as AL’s former Republican Attorney General claims was a setup and an abuse of power by Rove and the U.S. Attorneys who prosecuted the case.
The audio of Rove’s answer to the question about the 60 Minutes report, in which he claims “the woman lied” about the charges, is available above right (2:37).
Rove responded to the allegations by saying: “The fact of the matter is that I never met with this woman. I never made this request of her or anybody else. If she was a political operative she wasn’t involved in any of the campaigns that I was involved in in Alabama. I’ve never met the woman.”
“I mean, I, I, the woman lied,” Rove continued. “I don’t think I’ve ever met the woman. I know I’ve never taken a meeting with her.”
The transcript of the specific Q&A on the matter follows below…
Rove: Ah, you know, in each one of those instances things have proven to be or turned out to be either non-existent or not true. But if there is no evidence for it, Rove is responsible. It’s like the 60 Minutes thing on Don Siegelman…
Question: Did you see it?
Rove: Yeah I did, you know, this woman says that she was a longtime Alabama operative and I asked her to get pictures of Governor Siegelman with – naked pictures of him with his aides – and, ah, that this is a number of requests I’ve made to her.
The fact of the matter is that I never met with this woman. I never made this request of her or anybody else. If she was a political operative she wasn’t involved in any of the campaigns that I was involved in in Alabama. I’ve never met the woman.
And I frankly thought it was really unusual, you know, there was CBS – this woman says she met with me in 2001 – I’m at the White House, where did we meet? You know, she was an opposition researcher, ah, who paid her? When did I start making these requests? I mean, I, I, the woman lied. I don’t think I’ve ever met the woman. I know I’ve never taken a meeting with her.
And yet the CBS – look, I’m a myth I’m not a human being. I may appear to be flesh and blood but I’m a myth.
Last night on Dan Abrams’ MSNBC program (video posted here), Dana Jill Simpson, the Republican operative who made the claims, responded to Rove’s allegations that she was lying: “Since Karl Rove has said that and he feels so good saying that, what I want him to do is go and swear before the United States Congress and swear what he’s saying is true.”
Simpson also countered the claim, by party officials, that she never worked for them, by alleging that phone records from 2002 and 2006 would show conversations with officials in both Alabama and D.C.
Rove has refused a subpoena to testify under oath to Congress on matters relating to this and the related U.S. Attorney Purge scandal, leading to a recommendation for Contempt of Congress charges by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey recently testified to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee (video here) that the Dept. of Justice would refuse to enforce contempt citations against White House officials.
RELATED: Previous photographic BRAD BLOG exclusives with Karl Rove include a Memorial Day 2007 encounter in a D.C. convenience store, where the political operative was purchasing root beer, toilet paper and butter, and was instructed about “regime change here at home”. Prior to that, we posted photos of Rove glad-handing pro-war supporters countering Cindy Sheehan in Crawford, TX in the Summer of 2005, at the same moment that Hurricane Katrina was devastating New Orleans.
An exclusive BRAD BLOG video encounter, recorded in Los Angeles last year by Breslauer, in which the DoJ’s then chief of the Civil Rights Division voting section, John Tanner, claimed that minorities “don’t grow elderly the way white people do, they die first,” caused an enormous national outrage. The incident would eventually help lead to Tanner’s resignation from the post.
rove is not a myth, his integrity is.
Karl Rover
Scumbag extrodinaire. Do you think he ever had a conscience? I’d really like to see someone prove he met with her. Show this lying sucker up for what he is.
When will they tell us how the court reporter, Jimmy Dickens died?
Was his death anything like Ray Lemme’s “suicide,” accident or “heart attack?”
Re: Jill Simpson’s testimony, native Alabamian John Caylor wrote this: “Two days after Alabama Republican party attorney Jill Simpson testified behind closed doors to the House Judiciary Committee investigating Karl Rove and the President of the United States of plotting criminal prosecutions against foes, two United States Attorneys linked as witnesses in the corruption probe and quite possibly working on the same “Aztec Environmental” case implicating the President and his brother Jeb Bush are compromised – one dead -one apparently framed.”
http://www.insider-magazine.com/DeadUSattysOrig.html
(Runyon suicided with a gunshot wound; and Atchison, found dead in his cell)
The banner is a taunt, but there is more. He wants to be caught because there is guilt inside and he knows the greatest crimes that are converting America into Amurka happened on his watch.
The guilt will eat at him all the days of his life unless he comes clean. But it is becoming clear to me that the guilt is getting to him.
He will react to it like psychos do, and do things to get caught … like all mass murders do:
(Rolling Stone, emphasis added). You are “doin a heckuva job” on foreign policy bushies. It is quite foreign to American policy, but right down your sewer filled Amurkan streets.
You will be judged.
American flag waived, Amurkan flag waved …
OFF TOPIC ALERT –
There’s a House Judiciary Committee Meeting going on RIGHT NOW!!
http://judiciary.house.gov/schedule.aspx
Tuesday 02/26/2008 – 9:25 AM
2141 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties
Meeting to consider: A resolution authorizing the Chairman of the committee to issue a subpoena to J. Kenneth Blackwell for testimony and related documents at a hearing before the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties regarding voter suppression.
You can watch the live webcast at that link.
Right now they’re talking about voter caging. Haven’t seen Blackwell yet, so don’t know if he showed up or not.
“look, I’m a myth. I’m not a human being.”
He’s approximately half-right.
I find it interesting that Rove was more specific about what he asked Simpson to do. I think Simpson was toning down the request because it was in a newscast and perhaps because what he said was just too offensive for her. According to the above, Rove asked for:
“..I asked her to get pictures of Governor Siegelman with – naked pictures of him with his aides – …”
Simpson didn’t say that- Rove did.
Sounds like Rove was quoting himself rather than Simpson.
Brilliant stuff, Alan! Especially good job on framing the questions in a way that encourages the subject to do the talking, and getting out of the way so the interviewee can give longer, more detailed and more candid answers. Well done.
Who but blinded patriots (and I don’t mean physically) that are a minority of Americans believe anything kkkarl says. Seems to me that pimple would pop if forced to testify under oath.
They’re trying to discredit Simpson by insinuating she keeps “changing her story” by adding additional information.
She’s probably been wondering if she’ll live long enough to tell the rest of it. I don’t blame her a bit for being careful, or afraid.
The good ole boys were probably laughing while they watched her house burn to the ground, and while running her car off the road. That’s how they work….
Then when the tragedy rumors fly around town, they say, “AWWW I heard about that. Ain’t that too bad?”
She ought to set up a web site and put the documentation and proof out there if it looks like they’re going to try and smear her further.
She’s messin’ with the “Big Boys” who socialize with million dollar consultants who can write a plan, and concoct a design to smear her into the ground.
Governor Patton’s mistress, Tina Conner, left the state of Kentucky in fear for her life. And, she’s the one who ended up paying the biggest price with the courts.
They went after HER with a vengeance. Imagine that.
I still can’t get over the photo of Brad with the cigarette. I never make it past that when I come here. Easily one of the funniest things I have ever seen.
When I watched Mr. Rove give his official ‘dis-engagement’ speech, from one of the WH lawns, I was struck by his contextual verbiage. It wasn’t lost on me that he spoke of ‘spending more time with his family’. That, of course. would be his extended family of body politic. The game is afoot.
Wow, awesome work Alan! Next time, see if you can work in a Kick Me sign and give Karl a nice pat on the back.
– Tom
Whoa!
I saw a little segment with Simpson on MSNBC with Dan Abrams, and when confronted with denials from Republican officials in Alabama that they didn’t know her and that she was never active in the Republican Party, she mentioned that she had phone records of their conversations with her. Of course, it’s too much to hope for that she would have anything concrete with Rove. He’s much too clever for that.
karl, clever? This ignorant sob is selling our country down the river. He will be remembered in history as one who conspired with bush and the rest of his shitpile to destroy our constitution, our freedom, all for personal gain. Fuck him. He’s not clever, he’s a two-bit jerk.
You mean Brad doesn’t really smoke?
Weird, embarassed reaction by Rove.
Oh well, let us hope that the era of this “Soviet Union” politics and the media pundits orgasming over the cleverness and effectivness of such tactics in politics is over.
…
…
…
Don’t hold your breath.
Psssst! Do something! Call somebody, make your voice heard.
ReDUMBlicans know no boundaries. They keep sniffing
Karl Rove’s fat arse and wrecking their party with his advice. Their party is OVER.
. . . and I thought rove was going to spend more time with the family.
The videos aren’t available any more on Youtube. Does Rove have operatives inside Youtube? Maybe he convinced someone at the NSA who is working in the telecoms to block the videos from Youtube. Is there another place to see them?
Ah, the videos are back. Don’t know what happened. There was a message that said they were unavailable. That was great getting Rove to roll out the sign. Excellent. I think Rove should use the “I’m a myth defense in front of congress.”
That’s a screen saver JOJ, Thanks!
Notice how Rove emphatically stated twice that he had “never met this woman”, and then later changed it to “I DON’T THINK I’ve ever met the woman.”
This is how these republican scumbags lie and deceive. They make one definite statement, a lie, and then slyly and subtly insert an “out” in case it comes back to bite them in the ass.
He knows how to talk and manipulate perception. He’s like the David Copperfield of doublespeak.
I still don’t understand why such a blatant criminal is not behind bars at Gitmo as a traitor.
. . . rove knows where all the gerbils are buried.
JoJ #20
He must have meant the crime family. But that seems strange since most of them are in DC.
JoJ
Here is a picture of Larry Craig and KKKarl Rove in a bathroom on a trip to Bullshitistan.
They are both dressed in local garb.
Isn’t there any angry wackos out there?
Anne Coulter could write a story titled; “They Killed the wrong Rove”.
or; “They should of flown the plane into Karl Rove’s house”.
or; “I was going to talk about Karl, but I would have to go to detox if I used the words “fat friggin faggot”.
hhhhmmmm
What can be said by someone, like myself, Liberal gay man, that has not already been used by the slime on the “Right”, when talking about, who they believe, is not worthy of the very air they breath.
🙂
Corey
Boston, Massachusetts
http://www.CoreyMondello.com
2-27-08
ps
I did email Rove, along with many others, and told him he was a “piece of shit”.
I guess that is a pretty good discription.
You mean he didn’t have you thrown out on your butt for this stunt? He went ahead and posed for a photo with you? That’s pretty classy.
Karl Rove has done nothing wrong. Tell that to Jason Leopold next time you see him. Is he still waiting for that indictment to come down “within the next 24 hours”? LOL!
FYI – A closer look at my exchange with Rove reveals one particular oddity:
Rove: “Hi, Karl Roveâ€
Alan: “Alan Breslauerâ€
Rove: “Hey Alan, nice to meet youâ€
Alan: “Do you mind holding this with me [inaudible – might be â€while we do this“]
Rove: â€What is this, what is this“
Rove: â€No, no, you can hold that one“
Alan: â€I’ll hold it, all right“
Rove: â€You can hold that one, you can hold that one“
Rove: â€I’ll look skeptically at it“
Alan: â€Come on, just hold it“
Woman’s Voice: â€You don’t need to do this. You don’t have to do that. No. No“
Alan: â€Sure, sure I do“
Rove: â€Nice to meet you, thanks“
Alan walking away but not in the video: â€Free him“
WHY would Rove be skeptical about Freeing Don Siegelman? Why would Rove care one way or the other about anything Siegelman related? Would a truly disinterested party make that statement?
I agree with an earlier comment. I watched the whole interview on 60 Minutes and I never heard her quote Rove as getting “naked” pictures. Was that a slip on Rove’s part or did he just remember what he had actually said to her?
… RH Potfry said on 2/26/2008 @ 12:04 pm PT…
“I still can’t get over the photo of Brad with the cigarette. I never make it past that when I come here. Easily one of the funniest things I have ever seen.”
———–
Doin’ his Edward R Murrow shtick.
Brad’s got a lot of explaining to do. I enlarged the cigarette. IT’S A CANDY CIGARETTE. THAT PROVES BRAD IS CIA.
Just kidding. Great job making Karl squirm.
That is priceless Alan! Karl is pretty good at hiding his emotions, but his hair must have stood on end when he read your sign.
Great job!
I love it, a classic moment in guerrella political theatre.
http://www.whatnowtoons.com
cartoons for the coming progressive age
Look at the effort expendened to rehabilitate Karl Rove’s image here: http://jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18987
As if someone coming across as a “nice guy” can’t still be a criminal POS.