2012

Chapter 18: Do wonders never cease
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Rove’s mood changed dramatically when Bill Hemmer told him the news about President Obama’s Secret Service contingent being accused of soliciting prostitutes during President Obama’s visit to Colombia for the Summit of the Americas.

“You’re kidding me,” Rove said. “When did this happen?”

Hemmer shuffled the script outline he was using for the America’s Newsroom broadcast; a broadcast in which Rove would be participating. “Uh, over the weekend. Down in Cartagena, Colombia. The agents were working in advance of Obama's summit meeting.”

“Well, do wonders never cease,” Rove said. “Listen, give me a minute before makeup, okay?”

Without waiting for a response, Rove went to the room he’d been assigned to prepare for the broadcast, and pulled out his cell phone, did a quick search on the ‘Hill Who’ web site and found the number for Steve Castor, who was the Chief Counsel for Investigations for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He punch in the number and while he was waiting for Castor to pick up, walked to the buffet table and poured himself a soft drink.

A secretary picked up and Rove identified himself and asked to be connected to Castor. He was told that Castor was unavailable and asked if he’d like to leave a message.

“No, I don’t want to leave a message. I want to speak to Castor,” Rove said. “Just give me his cell phone number.”

The secretary wouldn’t do that, and Rove gave her a hard time, but to no avail. Finally, she offered to locate Castor and have him call Rove.

Rove was punching in Reince Priebus’s number when there was a brief knock on his door and a young woman poked her head in and said, “Make up.”

Rove motioned her in. He swore under his breath when he connected with a secretary instead of Priebus. He told her to have Priebus call him ASAP, and disconnected.

It wasn’t until after the broadcast that Rove finally connected with Steve Castor. In the meantime, he’d talked with Priebus and told him to get the Republican leadership to pressure Darrell Issa, who headed up the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, to conduct an investigation of the Secret Service incident.

In his talk with Castor, Rove stressed the importance of doing a “thorough, in-depth investigation” of the Secret Service incident. “Doesn’t matter how long it takes,” Rove said. “The longer the better.”

Everything Castor said indicated to Rove that he knew exactly what Rove was after.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously, and any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.