Dick Cheney helped force George W. Bush to finally agree to dump top aide Karl Rove, sources say.
Cheney and Rove have engaged in a mostly behind-the-scenes feud since the indictment of Cheney's top aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, in 2005. Rove was included as "Official A" in the indictment who also leaked information to key media members to try to discredit Iraqi war critic Joseph Wilson.
Rove did not get indicted after giving depositions five times in the investigation and changing some of his statements.
Cheney, who reportedly masterminded the vendetta campaign against Wilson himself, thought that Rove blamed the scandal on Libby, who he considered a scapegoat. Rove and Cheney have been at each other's throats since.
Cheney's lobbying efforts to convince Bush to dump Rove were aided by Rove's dismal efforts in the 2006 elections and role in ensuing scandals involving the political firings of attorneys general and the improper use by White House aides of Republican National Committee email accounts. Even Bush knew Rove had become too big of a liability.
Rove's lies that he is resigning to spend more time with his family, including a second wife and son in college who won't be around anyway, are laughable, to say the least.
Perhaps Rove wants to spend more time with his gay stepfather, the one who left Rove and his suicidal mother during Christmas time one year, to talk about "family values."