Justin's Political Corner

President Obama’s fierce attacks on Mitt Romney’s history with Bain Capital hit a nerve with Karl Rove, who on “Fox News Sunday” simultaneously lashed out at the president and advised him to stop making one of his most explosive allegations: that Romney may be a felon.

Rove, the architect of President George W. Bush’s presidential victories, now runs the pro-Republican super PAC American Crossroads, which is spending heavily to help Romney defeat Obama. He took issue with the Obama campaign’s suggestion that Romney’s SEC disclosure forms — in which Romney described himself as managing director at Bain beyond 1999, contrary to his claim that he left that year — could make him guilty of a felony.

“The fact of the matter is that if the president continues to make this charge — this outrageous charge that his campaign had that Mitt Romney is guilty of felonious activity, could’ve committed a felony — that’s a big mistake,” Rove said, predicting the line of attack won’t help Obama with independent voters.

He called Obama a “cheap Chicago pol,” accusing him of engaging in “gutter politics of the worst Chicago sort.” He echoes Romney, who called Obama’s claim “reckless and absurd,” and “beneath his dignity.”

On Thursday, Obama’s deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter lit up the firestorm after she said, “Either Mitt Romney, through his own words and his own signature, was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the SEC, which is a felony.”

I have news for you, Karl Rove: Romney’s a felon, and you damn well know it. In fact, YOU are also a felon, too!

h/t: Sahil Kapur at TPM