A Sunday panel discussion including Fox News contributors Karl Rove and Juan Williams became heated Sunday when Williams accused Rove of using private email accounts himself when he was serving in the Bush White House.
"Jeb Bush has a private e-mail," Williams told Rove during the morning panel discussion on
"Fox News Sunday," which iniitally had centered around former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's email accounts. "You had private e-mail."
Rove admitted that during his time in the White House, the Republican National Committee had accounts there, but "because of the Hatch Act, we had to have a separate account, but we were told these are presidential records. They were periodically swept and added into the White House archives."
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At one time, the records were thought to be missing, and Clinton, who was at that time seeking the Democratic nomination in 2008, also accused the White House of having secret email accounts, said Rove.
"I was told right from the beginning that it was treated as a presidential record and was periodically swept and dumped into the White House archives, which is exactly what happened," Rove said.
The arguments went on when Williams suggested that the media was easier on Rove and the Bush White House over the email issue than it has been on Clinton, to which Rove disagreed.
"If you're trying to say, oh, they were not tough on Rove, but they're being too tough on Clinton — well, maybe that's because she was the secretary of state and I was a White House aide ... they fired an ambassador," Rove said, referring to former ambassador to Kenya Scott Gration, who stepped down following a scathing report that included concerns about his use of personal email accounts.
"Karl, let me affirm, you were a powerful man in Bush White House. And you were firing U.S. attorneys," said Williams, "and 95 percent of your emails were RNC."
Rove, though, pointed out that the Obama administration investigated the matter, and found there was "no improper White House interference" in the matter.
"So, I appreciate the drive-by, but get your facts straight," he told Williams.
Wallace ended up breaking up the discussion, advising them to "stay off the caffeinated coffee," to which Rove replied that when they came back from their break, "I don't want to sit next to Juan."
The discussion began over Clinton and her use of the emails, with Rove saying that it will remain an issue as the 2016 campaign unfolds, as it "reaffirms" public opinion about the Clintons being "governed by a different set of rules."
"We're going to have that throughout the entire course of the campaign, whether it's foreign contributions to their foundation, or Huma Abedin getting a salary from a private company selling intelligence to foreign entities on American politics, at the same time she's getting a salary at the State Department," said Rove.
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