When Texas Governor George W. Bush appointed his personal attorney Harriet Miers as chair of the State Lottery commission in 1995, he may not have been expecting the controversies that Supreme Court nominee Miers would be facing during the next few years. Miers' actions throughout her tenure at the State Lottery merit close scrutiny.
The San Antonio Express News1 described Bush's impression of his appointment:
Miers is known for a reserved, soft-spoken demeanor coupled with a tenacity so fierce that Bush recently characterized her as a ``pit bull in size 6 shoes.''
The circumstances surrounding the dismissal of Lottery Director Nora Linares was only one of several controversial issues during Mier's chairmanship. The
Austin American Statesman2 reported:
[Miers] is the target of complaints by Garza about her handling of the commission's investigation into GTECH, the lottery's prime contractor. Lottery Director Nora Linares disclosed last month that Mike Moeller, a close friend now in prison on unrelated corruption charges, worked as a consultant for GTECH for five months in 1992-93. That touched off investigations of how GTECH does business in Texas. Linares has said she did not know until recently about Moeller's $6,000-a-month contract with GTECH.
Garza, as president of the South Austin Tejano Democrats, joined other Hispanic organizations this week in attacking Miers' handling of the Lottery Commission investigation.
He said in a news release issued Tuesday that Miers was ``orchestrating a mudslinging campaign against Nora Linares to further the Republican Party agenda.''
Miers, who was appointed to the commission by Republican Gov. George W. Bush, ``brings up a daily offering of innuendo, allegations without proof, rabbit trails with no end in sight, all for the purpose of pushing Nora Linares out of her position. It is hardball partisan politics at its worst,'' Garza said.
The Washington Times3 provided one example of the "allegations without proof":
Harriet Miers, a Dallas lawyer who chairs the Lottery Commission, had angered Miss Linares and other lottery officials last week by getting permission from Gov. George W. Bush to send in a contingent of Texas Rangers to guard against what Mrs. Miers claimed were improprieties involving the agency's investigative files.
More than 180 such files were "missing," Mrs. Miers claimed.
Two days later, lottery officials denied the aforementioned files were missing.
"Our security director believes that the word `missing' is a poor choice of words," said Lottery Commission spokesman Steve Levine, adding, "There are no missing files.
"In fact," Mr. Levine added in a statement faxed to news organizations, "our security director tells me that 102 of the 182 are complete and in place in his division's files. Incomplete is a more accurate description for the rest of these case files."
The Statesman4 reported Linares attorney Buck Wood's claim that Miers appointment to the Lottery Commission was illegal due to a conflict of interest:
Wood said Miers should not be on the panel because her Dallas law firm represents GSD&M, the Austin advertising agency that is the lottery's second-biggest contractor.
``The law absolutely, clearly prohibits that,'' he said, scoffing at Miers' claim that any harm was remedied by the fact that she has not participated in decisions regarding GSD&M.
The Statesman5 also cited Wood's allegation that the actions against Linares were politically motivated:
Buck Wood, one of Linares' lawyers, has suggested that Republicans are seeking to discredit state Comptroller John Sharp, Linares' political sponsor who has been mentioned as a candidate against Republican Gov. George W. Bush in 2000.
Issues throughout Ms. Meier's chairmanship at the State Lottery received extensive coverage in the Texas press. A close examination of the record may yield some important facts that may assist in the evaluation of the latest Supreme Court nominee.
Update [2005-10-3 17:10:29 by mkt]: The Guardian Unlimited offered a few more impressions of Miers during her lottery years:
``Although she's a small-framed woman, we all believed she came through the Marines and maybe ate nails for breakfast because she's one tough cookie,'' said Horace Taylor, a former lottery employee who worked for Miers.
… Charles Soechting, complained that Miers took an unnecessarily hard-nose approach to his client, refusing to let her exit gracefully by resigning.
``I learned from Harriet that someone can be stone cold and at the same time act like they care,'' he told Texas Lawyer in 2003.
End Notes:
1"Linares may face showdown with lottery panel's chief.", San Antonio Express-News, January 6, 1997:4A
2Herman, Ken, "State attorney role in lottery suit questioned.", Austin American Statesman, December 21, 1996:B1
3Aynesworth, Hugh, "Controversy, politics hobble Texas lottery.", Washington Times, December 23, 1996:A8
4 Herman, Ken, "Lottery board fires Linares / Citing `best interests of Texas,' commission votes for dismissal quickly, unanimously.", Austin American Statesman, January 8, 1997:A1
5 Herman, Ken, "Linares accuses lottery chairwoman of vendetta / Former lottery director insists she did nothing to deserve being fired", Austin American Statesman, January 12, 1997:B3
Cross-posted at ePluribus Media