McClellan: Rove should have been fired

WASHINGTON, June 1 (UPI) -- Former White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Sunday U.S. President George Bush should have fired White House political adviser Karl Rove.

McClellan -- appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" as part of a tour to promote his memoir, "What Happened" -- talked about Rove's role in the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson's name to the press in 2003.

"I think the president should have stood by the word that we said, which is if you were involved in this any way, then you would no longer be in this administration," McClellan said. "And Karl was involved in it."

McClellan said after it was known Bush's top adviser was involved in the leak, "the bar was moved to 'if anyone is indicted, they would no longer be here.'"

Rove -- who resigned his White House job and now works as a commentator for Newsweek, Fox News and The Wall Street Journal -- has joined other former White House figures in criticizing McClellan for "What Happened." At one point, he said McClellan sounds like a "left-wing blogger."

McClellan said Sunday he would donate a portion of the sales of his book to families of Iraq War victims.