Short version: GTECH pays Ben Barnes to get a contract with the state. Barnes uses his knowledge of a rumor to secure contract while Miers is on the Lottery's commision. Then, in 1998, Miers, who had been tied up in the Bush regime for years, is paid $19,000 to "investigate" these very same rumors. Wonder why she fired Linares for being tainted with rumors, but she didn't have an investigation on her own shady dealings.

Long version: So an earlier post made reference to the fact that Harriet Miers had a bit to do with quashing rumors about Bush's securing a post in the National Guard. Now there is another bit to further tie her into that role. As governor, Bush appointed Miers to a six year term to the Texas Lottery Commission. During her tenure, news surfaced that the lottery director, Nora Linares, had a boyfriend that had been employed as a consultant for GTECH, the lottery's main contractor. Miers then fired Linares, saying she couldn't be an effective leader because she'd been so damaged by the scandal. Linares filed suit against the commission but later dropped that lawsuit and instead sued GTECH. An agreement ending the dispute with the commission exonerating Linares.

Even Charles Soechting found his way in to the story. As Linares' lawyer he said that Miers took an unnecessarily hard-nose approach by refusing to let her exit gracefully by resigning. His quote: "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.

Now the fun stuff:

The commission fired Linares' replacement, Lawrence Littwin, in October 1997, four months after he was hired. Littwin's dismissal came amid a decline in sales, but the commission wouldn't say why he was fired. He had ruffled feathers for ordering lottery security officers to research campaign finance records of 30 current and former state officials.

Littwin claimed GTECH used its political influence to have him fired. Miers denied the accusation.

Littwin's lawyers suggested that former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, who was a lobbyist for GTECH until January 1997, helped the company keep its state contract to run the lottery in exchange for keeping silent about how he had helped Bush get into the National Guard in the late 1960s.

Full AP story here.