Waxman Urges Probe of Rove’s Intel Dealings

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) called Friday on a prominent House Republican to investigate a controversy involving White House political strategist Karl Rove.

In a letter to Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, Waxman asked for a hearing on Rove’s White House meeting in March with the chief executive of Intel Corp. At the time, Rove held at least $100,000 worth of Intel stock.

Intel executives were pushing for federal approval of a corporate merger, which the Bush administration approved less than two months later.

White House officials said earlier this week that Rove referred the computer chip-maker’s executives to others in the administration and played no part in the approval of Intel’s merger with one of its U.S. suppliers and a Dutch company.

Rove does not recall raising the issue with the president, officials said.

“He offered no advice or counsel with regard to this decision,” said White House spokesman Dan Bartlett.

Waxman, the ranking Democrat on Burton’s panel, reminded Burton in a letter that he “often responded immediately to any press reports that raised concerns about possible improprieties in the Clinton administration.” Fairness requires a hearing on this matter as well, Waxman said.

“I don’t know if anything improper happened in Mr. Rove’s meeting,” Waxman wrote. “But I do know this is exactly the type of situation that you would have investigated had it occurred in the Clinton administration.”

A spokesman for Burton declined comment pending review of Waxman’s letter.

White House spokeswoman Anne Womack, speaking for Rove, said: “The American people are tired of these kinds of fishing expeditions based on political motives rather than the facts. The fact is Karl Rove carefully conducted himself in accordance with advice from counsel.”

Rove sold all of his stock June 7, unloading a diverse portfolio of holdings in defense, high-tech, energy and banking companies with a total value of between $1 million and $2.5 million.

Waxman said Burton’s committee also should explore whether Rove attended White House policy sessions that may have affected other corporations besides those in which he held major stakes at the time.

White House financial disclosure forms released earlier this month showed Rove owned hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock in Enron Corp., Pfizer Inc., General Electric Co., Boeing Co., Johnson & Johnson, Intel and others.

Waxman said it was “commendable” that Rove has been disposing of his corporate stock holdings.