White House finds damage control elusive

[maddezmom]

White House finds damage control elusive
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg Published: March 17, 2007

WASHINGTON: As White House aides combed through documents trying to figure out if Karl Rove, the senior strategist, should talk to Congress about the dismissal of federal prosecutors, President George W. Bush set off for Camp David, his retreat in Maryland. But the rain grounded his helicopter and he was forced to go by car instead.

It was a small glitch, but a fitting metaphor for a White House that has been knocked back on its heels all week by its first big clash with the new Democratic majority in Congress.

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White House officials say that is unlikely, given the uproar on Capitol Hill. But some Republicans say the administration will have little choice but to let Rove talk in some fashion, preferably in private.

"I believe that, given the political realities, he will probably testify," said David Rivkin, who served in the White House counsel's office under President George H.W. Bush. "But it has to be done in a way that is very carefully worked out, with appropriate procedures, making sure it is not a fishing expedition."

On a day when the main figure in another scandal, Valerie Wilson, was all over the airwaves with her testimony before a House oversight committee, the controversy over the prosecutors was yet another reminder for the Bush administration of the harsh realities of life under a Democratic Congress.

Rove was at the center of that scandal as well.

more:http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/17/news/assess.php