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11/07/2005:

"Rove linked to investigation of conservative broadcaster"

Karl Rove, still under investigation for his alleged role in leaking the identity of an undercover CIA agent, faced possible implication in further scandal yesterday after the resignation of an ally accused of misusing public broadcasting funds for partisan political purposes.

Kenneth Tomlinson, a friend of the powerful presidential adviser for a decade, was forced to resign on Thursday as chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), where he set out to correct what he saw as liberal media bias. An internal report found he had overreached in those ambitions.

Yesterday it emerged that Mr Tomlinson is also under investigation by the State Department for possible abuses of power in a second job, as head of the federal agency overseeing government broadcasts to foreign countries. The New York Times reported he was suspected of diverting federal funds to further his partisan agenda at the CPB. The investigation is also looking at allegations that he put unqualified cronies and ghost employees on the federal payroll.

There was no suggestion that Mr Rove was implicated, but the State Department was reported to be looking at emails between the two men.
independent.co.uk