WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush expressed confidence in top aide Karl Rove Monday after questions were raised over the White House adviser meeting with Intel Corp. executives while holding stock in the firm.
The White House also said it was preparing a response to a Democratic congressman's request for information about any links between Rove's financial holdings and his official actions.
"My level of confidence with Karl Rove has never been higher," Bush told reporters at the White House. "He gives me sound advice. He adheres to the ethical rules of our government. And he's doing a great job on behalf of the American people."
Rove, the White House's top political guru, has been at the center of several recent controversies. These include a decision to quit Navy bomb training on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords' decision to quit the Republican party and what some Florida Republicans reportedly perceived as a snub by Bush during a recent trip to the state.
Rove's March 12 meeting with top Intel executives, however, has drawn the greatest scrutiny from opposition Democrats.
The meeting came as Intel was seeking approval of the merger of one of their major suppliers and a Dutch company. At the time, Rove held between $100,000 and $250,000 in stock in Intel, which he sold this month.
On Friday, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, Rep. Henry Waxman of California, asked Rove in a letter to "clarify" questions about his financial holdings and any relation they may have had to his official actions. He also asked committee Chairman Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican, whether he intended to hold a hearing on the matter.
"The (White House) counsel's office is working on a response to Mr. Waxman. The White House will cooperate and will provide all information that it deems appropriate," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
However, he said, "I think the American people are tired of these open-ended investigations and fishing expeditions ... The White House does not believe that that would serve the public well."
Fleischer noted that Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, said Sunday there would be no Senate investigation of Rove's holdings.
Aides to Burton said the congressman had not yet responded to Waxman's letter.
White House officials have said Rove did not know the merger would be discussed when he agreed to see the Intel executives. When the subject was broached, Rove urged the Intel executives to talk to the agencies involved, they said.
Karl Rove
They also said Rove had wanted to sell the shares before Bush took office Jan. 20, but that transition lawyers advised him to wait until he could obtain on official "certificate of divestiture," which was delayed by other business in the White House counsel's office.
Fleischer said the office had not acted "as quickly as we would like" on the matter, but he said Rove sold the stock as soon as he received the necessary paperwork.
Rove's role in chairing a key White House meeting last week on the decision to end Navy bombing practice on Vieques in May 2003 was also defended by the White House. Opponents of the training demanded an immediate halt. Pro-military members of Congress, angry that they had not been notified sooner of the decision, said the administration had acted too precipitously and without regard to the Navy's training needs.
"Karl is often involved in meetings that deal with matters pertaining to states and, in this case, (the commonwealth of) Puerto Rico, so that is part of his purview as intergovernmental affairs. But the decision was reached by the secretary of the Navy. It was announced by the secretary of the Navy, and the president concurs with it," Fleischer said.
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