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Top White House aide quits
13/08/2007 11:30 - (SA)
Washington - Top White House political adviser Karl Rove, who masterminded President George W Bush's political campaigns in 2000 and 2004, said in an interview published on Monday that he will resign at the end of this month.
"I just think it's time," Rove told The Wall Street Journal. "There's always something that can keep you here, and as much as I'd like to be here, I've got to do this for the sake of my family."
The paper said Rove's resignation as White House Deputy Chief of Staff would become effective on August 31.
Rove has been under fire since 2003, when retired US diplomat Joseph Wilson claimed he had illegally leaked to the media the identity of Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, a covert CIA employee.
Wilson asserted the leak had been orchestrated in retaliation for his New York Times article, in which he refuted the Bush administration's claim that the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein had explored ways of purchasing uranium ore from Niger.
The claim, made by Bush in his 2003 State of the Union address, was widely used to justify the subsequent invasion of Iraq.
An investigation into the Plame leak led to perjury and obstruction of justice charges, and subsequent conviction of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a former chief of staff for Vice President Richard Cheney.
But prosecutors determined last year there was no reason to charge Rove with any wrongdoing.
Asked in the interview if he felt he had committed any mistakes during his White House tenure, Rove said: "I'll put my feet up in September and think about that."
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