Karl Rove denies political ties taint Fox News role

This should silence all critics... former White House aide Karl Rove denied on Monday that his close ties with Republican politics and John McCain's presidential campaign undermine his credibility as an election analyst for the Fox News Channel. "I do talk to people in politics all across the country, some of whom are very active in the campaign (but) I play no official role, or ongoing role," Rove said in answer to a question about whether he works for the McCain operation in any way. "I do get phone calls," he added. "I'm having dinner later this week with a great friend of mine who just happens to be the Republican state chairman of a battleground state. He's going to be in Washington, and it's not just the quality of steak I'm going to fix him that's caused him to stop by the house and pick my brain." Asked whether Rove was on "the honor system" regarding his contacts with top McCain campaign operatives such as Steve Schmidt, Moody replied: "He's always on the honor system. All of our employees are." "We get most of our information about the McCain campaign from our correspondents," Moody added. "I don't think Karl would cross an ethical line like that." Rove also dismissed the notion that his refusal to answer congressional subpoenas to testify in a probe of the Bush administration's firing of federal prosecutors amounted to too much political baggage for a network news analyst to carry.