Rove Used Federal Coin to Help GOP in '06

Karl Rove helped direct federal officials and funds to 99 congressional districts where Republican candidates were threatened in the 2006 elections, the Washington Post reports. Many presidents, including Bill Clinton, have briefed cabinet members before reelection efforts, but the “gross abuse” of public White House funds for at least 303 politicking trips is unprecedented, House Democratic investigators say.

White House e-mails say officials had to attend at least five “recommended events” monthly leading up to elections. Republican lawmakers countered Democrats’ “angry swooning” with a report four times longer, saying Democratic officials attend partisan events, too. The Rove probe is “an attempt to score political points” and a “colossal waste of time and taxpayer money,” a White House spokesman says. (More Karl Rove stories.)