Poacher turned gamekeeper

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove is concerned that Barack Obama might be skating close to the edge of the law --

Former [Federal Elections Commission] Chairman Michael Toner, now of Bryan Cave LLP, says running a new grass-roots advocacy group out of the White House could create serious election-law difficulties. The FEC has imposed large civil penalties on some advocacy groups for failing to register as political committees and abide by hard-dollar contribution limits. Also, any White House advocacy group runs the risk of being treated as a Democratic National Committee affiliate, triggering shared contribution limits, reporting requirements, and a prohibition on soft-money contributions. Given Mr. Obama's professed support of campaign finance reform, he could ill afford any of these problems.

God forbid that anyone run an advocacy group out of the White House through an affiliation with the party's national committee. Like the White House Iraq Group. This was formed to "sell" the Irar war. Karl Rove was on it. One interesting thing about this group. Mary Matalin and Karen Hughes worked for it after having left the White House. So they were there as consultants. Who paid for their time? This source claims that it was the Republican National Committee. Pat Fitzgerald, who looked into the activities of the WHIG knows for sure. Maybe with the new legal advice from Rove he should take another look at his transcripts.

Incidentally, Rove is back working for the White House (a fact unmentioned in his WSJ bio) on the Bush Legacy Project. Who's paying for his time?