"Turdblossom" to get at least 1.5 million for his version of history

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/21/AR2007122101921.html?hpid=moreheadlines


Karl Rove Inks $1M-Plus Memoir Deal
By AMY WESTFELDTThe Associated Press Friday, December 21, 2007; 5:58 PM
NEW YORK -- GOP strategist Karl Rove has agreed to write about his years as an adviser to President Bush in a deal worth over $1.5 million with former colleague Mary Matalin's conservative imprint at Simon & Schuster, officials said Friday.
Rove, the architect of Bush's 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns and one of the most influential political advisers of his time, signed the deal with Threshold Editions, the imprint's publisher and executive vice president Louise Burke said.

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"All of us at Threshold are thrilled to publish the book from the man who had the president's ear for two terms," Burke said.
Rove's agent, attorney Robert Barnett, said Threshold was chosen over eight other bidding publishers. Threshold didn't say how much Rove would be paid, but the bidding reached at least $1.5 million, two publishing officials familiar with the bidding told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, a standard industry practice.
Rove said in a statement that the memoir would offer "a candid, careful look" at Bush's presidency and his role in it.
"It will tackle and shed light on important events and big controversies, spell out their implications for America and set the record straight," he said.
Publishers earlier this year had expressed reservations after Rove announced he would write about his White House years, wondering how much he would reveal.

Rove and Bush have known each other for more than 30 years, including Bush's years as Texas governor. Bush nicknamed Rove "the architect" and "boy genius" for successfully plotting two national election strategies and helping strengthen Republican majorities in Congress in 2002 and 2004.
Rove came under scrutiny in a criminal investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's name. He testified five times before a federal grand jury, occasionally correcting misstatements made in earlier testimony, but he was never charged with any crime.
The trial of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on charges of lying and obstructing justice established that Rove was one of the administration officials who leaked the name of the CIA officer, Valerie Plame.
In a more recent controversy, Rove refused to testify before Congress about the firing of U.S. attorneys, citing executive privilege.
Said Matalin, a former adviser to Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and Threshold's editor in chief: "Karl was always in a league of his own in the world of electoral politics and he now will literally create a unique genre for historians, policy makers, political junkies and serious readers."
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Associated Press writer Hillel Italie contributed to this report.

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