Fired for Comment in Rove Article, Texas Attorney Explores Legal Options ... Governor confirms (that Rove called him

law.com - Fired for Comment in Rove Article, Texas Attorney Explores Legal Options: "Mary Alice Robbins | Texas Lawyer | 10-07-2005

Elizabeth Reyes' employment as a staff attorney at the Texas Secretary of State's Office was cut short last month. Three days after The Washington Post quoted Reyes in a Sept. 3 article about White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, the 30-year-old attorney found herself out of a job.

What was Reyes' alleged violation? She had answered a reporter's questions about whether rental property Rove owns in Kerr County, Texas, qualifies him to register to vote in that county.

Reyes says she didn't know the person asking questions was a reporter and she didn't know that the reporter was asking about Rove. In a correction published on Sept. 10, The Washington Post acknowledged that the reporter never asked about Rove by name. But Gabe Escobar, the newspaper's city editor, says the reporter did identify herself to Reyes.

But after Rove called Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams, Reyes was terminated.

Williams, a Gov. Rick Perry appointee who has served as secretary of state since January, confirms (that Rove called him after The Washington Post published the article.

'He and I are friends,' Williams says of Rove. " ...