Bush World: In 2003, while the nation was at war, Karl Rove secretly revealed to the media the identity of United States undercover operative who specialized in tracking the nuclear arms black market overseas. He has admitted that he spoke with at least one reporter – Judith Miller of the New York Times – and at least one rightwing propagandist who calls himself a reporter – Bob Novak – and one real reporter – Matt Cooper of Time Magazine – have said that Rove was their source for the identity of the agent, Valerie Plame.

Now Rove has pressured the Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams, who happens to be a client of Rove’s, to fire an employee who provided general information to a reporter about Texas law that relates to Rove’s status as a voter in Texas – even though she did not mention Rove by name. (And even though Rove has not lived in Texas for at least five years.)

A lawyer with the Texas secretary of state was fired after she spoke to a reporter about presidential adviser Karl Rove’s eligibility to vote in the state.

Elizabeth Reyes, 30, said she was dismissed last week for violating the agency’s media policy after she was quoted in a Sept. 3 story by The Washington Post about tax deductions on Rove’s homes in Washington and Texas…

Reyes told the Post on Friday a superior told her that her bosses were upset about the article. [Sec.] Williams has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Republicans, including President Bush, who relies heavily on Rove for political strategy.

While Reyes said she didn’t know she was talking to a reporter, she said the press policy doesn’t bar her from speaking with the media.

“The policy allows us to talk to members of the media,” she told the Post. “The policy says if it’s a controversial issue or a special issue, it needs to be forwarded on to someone else. Just talking to the media doesn’t violate it, as I read it. … Karl Rove didn’t come up. It wasn’t something you could classify as controversial.”

…The Post earlier reported that Rove inadvertently received a homestead tax deduction on his home in Washington, even though he had not been eligible for the benefit for more than three years. Rove was eligible for the deduction when he bought the home in 2001, but a change in the tax law in 2002 made the deduction available only to property owners who do not vote elsewhere. Rove is registered to vote in Texas.

The tax office admitted the mistake, saying it failed to rescind the deduction, and Rove agreed to reimburse the city an estimated $3,400 in back taxes, the Post reported.

Rove is registered to vote in Kerr County, Texas, where he and his wife own two rental homes that he claims as his residence. But two local residents told the Post they had never seen Rove there.

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