About a week ago, the Washington Post ran a report noting that Karl Rove was illegally taking a homestead deduction and property tax cap on his home in DC, and owed the city back taxes. It hardly seemed worth mentioning — not only was there more important news to consider, this apparent clerical error would appear to rank pretty low among Rove’s ills.
That is, until a lawyer in the Texas secretary of state’s office was fired for her role in confirming the Post’s story.
A staff attorney with the Texas secretary of state said yesterday that she was fired this week for violating press protocols when she spoke to a Washington Post reporter who was working on a story about presidential adviser Karl Rove.
Elizabeth Reyes, 30, of Austin said she was fired Tuesday after she was quoted in a Post story that ran Sept. 3 about tax deductions on Rove’s homes in the District and in Texas.
Once again, the Bush gang looks more like an organized crime family than a White House staff. Reyes inadvertently hurt Rove, so Reyes no longer has a job in Texas government.
And when I say “inadvertently,” I mean that literally. The Post contacted Reyes’ office and asked about generalities. Reyes wasn’t even asked about Rove by name; all she did was accurately state the law as it applies to everyone. But within days of playing a side role in a story that hurt Rove, she’s gone.
For that matter, when the Plame scandal in mind, there is some irony here. Rove talked to a reporter; Reyes talked to a reporter. Rove told a lie; Reyes told the truth. Rove was driven by a desire to smear a political rival; Reyes was driven by a desire to give a reporter accurate information. Rove may have violated a series of federal laws; Reyes may have violated an office policy about media interviews involving “controversial” subject matter.
Rove is helping run the executive branch of the federal government; Reyes is unemployed. Bush’s America is an odd place indeed.