Republican strategist Karl Rove erroneously claimed Wednesday that Tea Party Express Chairwoman Amy Kremer was complicit in an emailed image that depicted him as a Nazi, deepening the conflict between Rove and the conservative grassroots. The image was actually sent out by a different Tea Party group after a vendor had inserted it without the Tea Party group's knowledge or approval.

In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Rove accused Kremer and other Tea Party leaders as being “consultants who are more concerned with their fees and profits than they are with advancing the cause.” Kremer has since responded to Rove's charges, calling them "false" and hypocritical.

Hannity asked Rove about a recent incident involving a different Tea party group sending out a fundraising letter showing Rove in a Nazi SS uniform. The group, Tea Party Patriots, apologized and explained that it was a third party who had inserted the image and not their own organization. After Hannity expressed his desire for a Tea Party resurgence, he said, “Tea Party Patriots had you in a Nazi SS uniform, but they apologized. Let’s start there.”

However, Rove targeted a different group, Tea Party Express, and its chairwoman Kremer:

Somebody sent out a picture of me in a fundraising letter with a picture of me as Heinrich Himmler, the SS chief, and I don’t know what adult supervision was needed there, but they apologize and I accept that... It’s a little amazing that somebody would be so loose that they would send out something as offensive as that... There was a lot of attention paid to the Tea Party Patriot email over Miss Kremer’s name calling me a Nazi and having a picture of me.

Rove continued, insinuating that his critics are "consultants" driven by money:

Look, we do have a problem on the Right. We have too many organizations that are run by consultants who are more concerned with their fees and profits than they are with advancing the cause. We got too many groups where they’re paying 15% to the media guy and the fundraiser gets a big slice out of every dollar that gets raised.

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Kremer criticized Rove for dragigng her Tea Party organization into the controversy. “Once again Karl Rove got it wrong," she stated. "The Tea Party Express is a completely separate organization than the Tea Party Patriots. Incorrectly calling me out by name on Hannity’s show demonstrates how disconnected Mr. Rove is with the grassroots and Tea Party movement."

Kremer called for Rove to spend his energy on more fruitful pursuits than attacking potential allies. "I hope that Karl Rove spends less time making false accusations about people who want to work towards the same goals and is serious about electing fiscal conservatives in 2014,” she chided.

Kremer further stated: 

“For Karl Rove, who’s made millions off of right-of-center politics or his role in politics, to call me or other Tea Party leaders out as money-driven or somehow wanting nothing but profits is absurd. Rove is being a hypocrite. 

"Tea party leaders, myself included, break ourselves financially and in every other way to help our movement," Kremer said. "We sacrifice for our nation and I’m not aware of any Tea Party leaders who have made millions doing this.”