A forthcoming book from CBS-owned Simon & Schuster that assails GOP star Karl Rove charges that the Republican Party is run by "clowns and buffoons," dubs Sarah Palin a "MILF," and hints that the former top Bush aide might of had a hand in the plane crash of an associate linked to two Bush-era affairs.

"Boss Rove, Inside Karl Rove's Secret Kingdom of Power," by noted Bush critic Craig Unger, hints strongly over 26 pages that Rove was eager for a former IT associate who had knowledge of a 2004 Ohio presidential balloting controversy and missing White House emails to be silenced.

Mike Connell died December 18, 2008 when his Piper Saratoga crashed during bad weather. His web firm had developed a back up system for the Ohio election board which, when activated on election night, was followed by a Bush victory in the Buckeye state despite exit polls showing a win by Sen. John Kerry. He also had worked to develop an email system that White House officials like Rove used and that apparently ate thousands of emails Democrats wanted during a probe of Rove's role in a Justice Department scandal.

In the book, Unger quotes Connell's sister, Shannon, saying about her brother: "His death would have been a really nice Christmas present for Rove." He concludes that the crash was either an accident or murder but provides no new evidence.

Rove's office said he was not available for comment.

The book, from Simon & Schuster's imprint Scribner, assails many of Rove's other roles in GOP politics, even though Unger concedes that Rove has now become among the most important Republicans ever. It also beats up the Republican Party as a whole and specifically the cast of primary candidates who eventually lost to Mitt Romney. And Unger describes Palin as "the sexy, big-game hunting, right-wing MILF from Alaska."