Attorney In Rove Article Fired, Sues

(CBS/AP)  A former attorney for the Texas Secretary of State has filed a lawsuit claiming she was fired for political reasons after she spoke to a newspaper about presidential adviser Karl Rove, according to a media report.

Elizabeth Reyes, who was dismissed in September 2005, filed the lawsuit in state district court. Reyes had spoken to the Washington Post about Rove's voting eligibility in Texas, questioning whether two small cottages he owns in the state qualified as a residence for purposes of registering to vote.

In the suit filed in state district court, Reyes says she was fired "because of the political embarrassment and pressure," The Dallas Morning News reported.

Roger Williams, who resigned as Secretary of State in June to head the state Republican Party's 2008 campaign effort, has confirmed that Rove called him after the article appeared, but he said the White House adviser did not ask that Reyes be fired.

In Texas, state employees can be fired at will. Her attorney claims the firing violated her constitutional right of free speech.

Williams has previously said Reyes was let go because she violated agency policy. He said she was not authorized to discuss controversial issues with the media.

Williams is a major Republican fundraiser and a longtime ally of Rove and President George W. Bush. He is thought to have political ambitions of his own, perhaps as a Republican candidate for governor in 2010.

The Post article, dated September 3, 2005, told of Rove's reimbursement of Washington, D.C. property taxes amounting to $3,400 because he took a homestead deduction on his D.C. property for which he wasn't eligible, being a registered voter in Texas. (For three years, from 2001 until the sale of his Austin home, Rove claimed homesteads in Texas and Washington, which the article noted was technically illegal.)

In the article, Reyes stated that ownership in and of itself doesn't make a residence, and that in Texas registering to vote where you do not reside can bring voter fraud charges. While she said that Rove's rental cottage in Kerr County "doesn't sound like a residence to me, because it's not a fixed place of habitation," she acknowledged that "questions of residency are ultimately for the court to decide."

Reyes said she was answering a hypothetical question and did not know she was talking with a reporter when she made the comments about Rove. She said his name never specifically came up.

The lawsuit seeks lost wages and unspecified punitive damages. In addition, Reyes asks that references to her termination be eliminated from her state employment file.

Rove announced last week that he would step down as Mr. Bush's adviser.

[ludvig1-2009]

Nixon pardoned Jimmy Hoffa. In 1972-73 time frame, my car broke down in Alexandria, Virginia, but I managed to borrow water and limp into a garage. In the garage was a Rolls Royce up on the rack. I told the guy, "Nice car you got." He said, "Thanks, want to go across the street and have a drink with me." Coming back across the street after he bought me a large soda with a $100 bill, I was told that he was the chauffer for the head lawyer for the Teamsters Union. I was impressed with the $100 bill as I was a newly hired Nuclear Engineer making $7200 a year starting salary. I told him I had an honorable withdrawl card from the Teamsters for summer work I did while going to college. He told me "You can take it from me, the arrangements have already been made, Jimmy Hoffa will be the next president of the Teamsters." I said to myself, "I guess that means that the stipulation on the pardon regarding Hoffa not conducting Union business for a specified time period, I believe 10 years must be going to be repealed." Then I move to California and see Hoffa on TV saying, "I know a lot, and if things don''t start happening, I''m going to start talking." The preceding is the honest truth. I''m not lying. The rest is history.

[citizenusa-2009]

T.U.R.D. Blossem isn''t worrying. After all, no one was held accountable for "outing" CIA Valarie Plame..and that''s treason! This Administration is corrupt and too powerful to believed!

[vincan-2009]

I would like to be able to post something on this site.

[racam_us]

What makes people think there is free speech in this country? It is one of the many things that Bush and his administration have taken from us.

[stephanienym]

This guy is the biggest criminal around, next to Bush and his other side kick, he is just bailing before the sh i t really hits the fan! What a complete bunch of bullies! God help America!

[lorinkundert]

"But the good news, only one more year!"

I hope you''re right but you have to be asking if a group of officials who regularly disregard the Constitution and other laws are going to let something like term limits stop them. Under the Patriot Act it only takes a declaration of "State of Emergency" for the President to suspend the Constitution as well as posse comitatus.

[marcodele]

You just don''t mess with Tony Soprano. Just ask Valerie Phlame. These partisan thugs destroy people at will. But the good news, only one more year!

[qwaszx1-2009]

Just another unconscionable act and reaction by the Bush administration. Rove tried to steal tax money and instead of being embarrassed he goes after the state employee who exposed his fruad. Good thing he didn''t keep the $3,400 in his freezer.

[djconklin]

"Wow - people must really love Clinton, because any talk of dishonesty about Republicans always ends up with someone having to excuse or defend their actions by bringing up that loser Clinton."

It goes back to their "family values":

"two wrongs make a right"
"never give a sucker an even break"
always keep a good man down"
"never help the little people--they''ll expect it"
etc.

[rushlimpdrug]

what happened to this lady is called intimidation.
Intimidation of the masses.
The sad part is everyone falls for it.
"Hello, this is carl rove"
recepient answers -
-"yes master, whatever you want, take it, just don''t hurt my family, please"

I hope they start to treat this bastaard like scum wherever he is.
He should be one of the most hated persons in America for destroying all the good that this country once stood for.