Disgruntled former employee

last updated 8 January 2015

Philadelphia

A former top aide to President Bush has accused his old White House colleagues of putting politics ahead of substance. John DiIulio Jr., who once headed Bush’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, told Esquire magazine that he quit the administration because it had no real conservative principles. He said political adviser Karl Rove was a “Machiavelli” who was by far the most powerful member of the White House staff. “What you’ve got is everything, and I mean everything, being run by the political arm,” DiIulio said. Ari Fleischer, Bush’s spokesman, said that “any suggestion that the White House makes decisions that are not based on sound policy reasons is baseless and groundless.” DiIulio, a Democrat who now teaches at the University of Pennsylvania, apologized for the remarks, and said he thought the interview was off the record.