Karl Rove - Activities Since Leaving The White House

Activities Since Leaving The White House

Shortly after leaving the White House, Rove was hired to write about the 2008 Presidential Election for Newsweek. He was also later hired as a contributor for the Wall Street Journal and a political analyst for Fox News. Rove was an informal advisor to 2008 Republican Presidential candidate John McCain, and donated $2,300 to his campaign. His memoir, Courage and Consequence, was published in March 2010. One advance reviewer, Dana Milbank of The Washington Post, said of the book that Rove "revives claims discredited long ago". The controversial book has inspired a grassroots rock and roll compilation of a similar name Courage and Consequence that was released a week before the memoir.

Rove has also spent significant time on the road giving speeches to schools and other groups. Rove was scheduled to give the commencement address at Choate Rosemary Hall, a New England boarding school, but canceled after protests from students and faculty. He instead made a private appearance at the school on February 11, 2008.

On March 9, 2008, Rove appeared at the University of Iowa as a paid speaker to a crowd of approximately 1,000. He was met with hostility and two students were removed by police after attempting a citizen's arrest for alleged crimes committed during his time with the Bush administration. Near the end of the speech, a member of the audience asked, "Can we have our $40,000 back?" Rove replied, "No, you can't."

On May 22, 2008, Rove was subpoenaed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers to testify on the politicization of the Department of Justice. However, on July 10, Rove refused to acknowledge his congressional subpoena citing executive privilege as his reason.

On June 24, 2008, Rove said of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, "Even if you never met him, you know this guy. He's the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone."

Rove agreed to debate one-time presidential candidate and former Senator John Edwards on September 26, 2008, at the University at Buffalo. However, Edwards dropped out and was replaced with General Wesley Clark.

Rove, who was hired by Fox News to provide analysis for the network's election coverage, defended his role on the news team to the Television Critics Association.

On November 3, 2008, Rove spoke on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis on the eve of Election Day.

On February 23, 2009, Rove was again required by Congressional subpoena to testify before the House Judiciary Committee concerning his knowledge of the U.S. Attorney firings and the alleged political prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman but did not appear on this date. He and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers later agreed to testify under oath before Congress about these matters.

On July 7 and July 30, 2009, Rove testified before the House Judiciary Committee regarding questions about the dismissal of seven U.S. Attorneys under the Bush Administration. Rove was also questioned regarding the federal prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegleman, who was convicted of fraud. The Committee concluded that Rove had played a significant role in the attorney firings. No conclusions were made public regarding Siegleman's prosecution. Siegleman's supporters have claimed that Rove was behind Siegleman's prosecution, although Siegleman's defense made no such claim either at his original trial, or at his appeal before the 11th Circuit Court which upheld his conviction on the bribery and fraud counts, but dismissed two counts of mail fraud. The 11th Circuit handed down its decision March 6, 2009.

In 2010, Rove became an advisor to American Crossroads, a Republican 527 organization raising money for the 2012 election effort.

Rove made appearances at a number of campuses, including UC Merced on October 8 as conservatives students, in the College Republicans at UC Merced, sought to provide an alternative perspective since First Lady Michelle Obama and Former President Jimmy Carter spoke at the young campus.

Rove was the guest host of The Rush Limbaugh Show on Monday, August 9, 2010., marking his first time hosting a radio talk show.

In a profile which appeared in the December 15, 2011 issue of The New Republic, Rove, with his hands-on involvement with American Crossroads, is described as one of the shrewdest navigators of the political climate after the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision which exempted political broadcasts funded by corporations and unions from campaign finance limits. "Rove had no role in creating this new legal environment...but if Rove and his allies did not invent it, they certainly were adroit at exploiting it."

Following Todd Akin's comments regarding "legitimate rape" and the notion that raped women are unlikely to become pregnant, Rove joked about murdering the Missouri Senate candidate, saying "We should sink Todd Akin. If he’s found mysteriously murdered, don’t look for my whereabouts!" After multiple news outlets picked up on the story, Rove apologized for the remark. Rove's Crossroads GPS organization had previously pulled its television advertising from Missouri in the wake of the comments.

On November 7, 2012, Rove protested Fox News' call of the 2012 presidential election for Barack Obama, prompting host Megyn Kelly to ask him, "Is this just math that you do as a Republican to make yourself feel better? Or is this real?"

In 2013 Rove and the PAC American Crossroads created the Conservative Victory Project for the purpose of supporting electable conservative candidates. These efforts have attracted criticism, and even personal attacks, from elements within the Tea Party movement.