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Friday, September 23, 2005

Head of disaster coordination heads to a fundraiser on Saturday

These guys are just shameless.

A catagory 4 storm is about to destry Texas and Karl Rove, the head of disaster coordination goes on a fundraiser in South Dakota this Saturday? He just proved again that he's in it to make a buck.

From Seantor Frank Lautenburg's office

In a letter sent today, United States Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) asked President Bush why his White House point person for disaster coordination and recovery, Karl Rove, was heading for a political fundraiser in North Dakota on the same day Hurricane Rita is expected to slam into Texas and Louisiana.
The following links are articles that discuss Karl Rove's role as the disaster point person for the White House.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5615598.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/15/politics/15bush.html?ex=1127620800&en=9c89c3f0803834b3&ei=5070

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/09/15/BL2005091501098.html

A copy of the original letter sent to President Bush is attached to this release.

September 23, 2005

Honorable George W. Bush President The White House Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush:

The assignment of your Deputy Chief of Staff, Karl C. Rove, as the lead White House official for disaster coordination and recovery efforts raises troubling questions given his partisan political background.

As all know, Hurricane Rita is bearing down on the Gulf Coast even as the nation reels from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. It would be expected that Mr. Rove would be at his post "24/7" during this crisis.

However, as unlikely as it might seem, we have learned that Mr. Rove will be traveling to North Dakota to engage in political fundraising activities. When this fearsome hurricane makes landfall on Saturday, Mr. Rove will be delivering a political speech to the North Dakota Republican Party, and will be featured as a special guest at a fundraising dinner.

I respectfully urge you to remind Mr. Rove of his responsibilities as the coordinator of relief and recovery efforts, and direct him to keep his attention focused on this critical job. There will be plenty of time for fundraising, but for now, putting lives back together and rebuilding communities must take priority over building political war chests.