Rove to Resign As White House Political Advisor

Rove to Resign as White House Political Advisor

President Bush's longtime political advisor, Karl Rove, said in an interview published Monday, that he will resign at the end of the month.

Rove, who headed Mr. Bush's political campaigns in 2000 and 2004, told The Wall Street Journal - "I just think it's time." He said he is resigning, in his words, "for the sake of my family."

Rove said he decided to leave after White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten told senior aides that if they stayed past the Labor Day holiday - September 3 - they would be obliged to remain through the end of the president's term in January of 2009.

The White House aide had been under scrutiny for months during a criminal investigation of a CIA leak. Retired U.S. diplomat Joseph Wilson claimed Rove illegally leaked the identity of his wife, Valerie Plame, a CIA operative. Rove has never been charged with wrongdoing.

Last month, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas for Rove as part of an investigation into the firings of several federal prosecutors last year.

Rove has closely advised the president since Mr. Bush first announced he was running for governor of Texas in 1993. Rove served as chief strategist in Mr. Bush's presidential campaign in 2000.

ENDS

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