Karl Rove accused of seeking dirt on governor

WASHINGTON – A former Republican campaign worker claims that President Bush’s former top political adviser, Karl Rove, asked her to find evidence that the Democratic governor of Alabama at the time was cheating on his wife, according to an upcoming broadcast of “60 Minutes.”

Jill Simpson, who has long alleged that Rove may have influenced the corruption prosecution of former Gov. Don Siegelman, makes the claim against Rove in a broadcast scheduled to be aired Sunday, according to CBS.

Simpson testified to congressional investigators last year that she overheard conversations among Republicans in 2002 indicating that Rove was involved in the Justice Department’s prosecution of Siegelman. She has never before said that Rove pressed her for evidence of marital infidelity.

Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, denied the allegation.

“Mr. Rove never made such a request to her or anyone else,” Luskin said in an e-mail. “Had ‘60 Minutes’ taken the trouble to contact Mr. Rove before circulating this falsehood, he would have told them the same thing.”

CBS said Rove declined to speak with “60 Minutes.”

The statement says Rove approached Simpson at a 2001 meeting, when Siegelman was still governor.

“Karl Rove asked you to take pictures of Siegelman?” reporter Scott Pelley asks.

“Yes,” Simpson replies.

“In a compromising sexual position with one of his aides,” Pelley says.

“Yes, if I could,” she responds.

Simpson said she is speaking out because Siegelman’s seven-year sentence on corruption charges bothers her, the release said. She said she found no evidence of an affair.