Republicans should not call for a special prosecutor to probe the IRS targeting of conservative groups, says Karl Rove — at least not yet.
A special prosecutor will draw out the process longer, Rove said Tuesday on Fox News Channel's "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren."
Rove, who was an adviser to former President George W. Bush, pointed out that Bush's administration was accused of firing nine U.S. attorneys for political reasons.
The allegations surfaced at the end of Bush's term, and Obama appointed an attorney to investigate.
"We're here nearly five years later, and the Justice Department refuses to release that report because it exonerates Attorney General [Alberto] Gonzales and the Bush White House," Rove said. "If they won't do that when it's an issue involving the previous administration because they don't want to remove the cloud … do you have confidence at all Attorney General [Eric] Holder would appoint a tough, rapidly acting special prosecutor who would get to the bottom of this?"
Republicans have charged that orders to target conservative groups may have come from top political appointees in the Internal Revenue Service.
Rove said he'd like to hear more come out of congressional investigations in the fall. After that, he said, he might be more willing to entertain the idea of a special prosecutor.
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