Rove on the defense with money ads

NEW YORK, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Former White House adviser Karl Rove says Democratic allegations of shady fundraising and channeling of secret foreign campaign contributions are "bizarre."

Appearing on Fox News -- where he is employed as a political analyst -- Rove Tuesday rebutted accusations leveled in a television ad by the Democratic National Committee that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Republican strategists had solicited foreign donations to influence the midterm elections.

"Look, I'm only calling area codes inside the United States of America," Rove said. "In fact, we explicitly say we will not accept foreign money because it's been illegal since 1907, the Tillman Act.

"I mean, this is just -- you know, it's bizarre to me," Rove said.

He said the accusation was "made without scintilla of evidence."

A liberal blog, ThinkProgress, reported last week the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- which is legally permitted to raise and spend unlimited amounts of political money without disclosing its donors -- funds campaign attack ads out of its general account, which solicits foreign funding.

"I challenge the Chamber of Commerce to tell us how much of the money they're investing from foreign sources. I challenge them," Vice President Joe Biden said. "If I'm wrong, I will stand corrected."