Microsoft Unties the Knot to Ralph Reed
Seattle Weekly reports that Ralph Reed's $20,000. a month retainer with Microsoft has come to an end.
When it was recently revealed that Microsoft had employed religious conservative Ralph Reed as a political consultant, it was logical to wonder if his $20,000 monthly retainer was somehow related to the company's temporary refusal to support a gay-rights bill in Olympia, which failed.
The reason for the divorce does not appear to be related to the gay rights legislation.
One source notes that Reed was on a Microsoft retainer while helping run the George W. Bush presidential campaigns of 2000 and 2004, raising ethical questions. But Reed now has gone a step further and filed to run for public office himself—lieutenant governor of Georgia, thought to be a step toward an eventual White House run. Having a political candidate on the payroll would be a clear ethical conflict for Microsoft.
But, the Weekly notes, the plot thickens:
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