Former State Attorney Quoted in Rove article Sues Over Firing

From Editor and Publisher (8/21/07)

AUSTIN A former attorney for the Texas Secretary of State's Office has filed a lawsuit claiming she was fired for political reasons after she spoke to a newspaper about presidential adviser Karl Rove.

Elizabeth Reyes, who was dismissed in September 2005 after Rove called Secretary of State Roger Williams, filed the lawsuit in state district court. Reyes had spoken to the Washington Post about Rove's voting eligibility in Texas. She questioned whether two small cottages he owns near Kerrville 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."

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

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

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