U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, says his Republican opponent Bill Flores may have violated the law because Flores’ 2004 résumé contradicts recent statements the Republican congressional candidate has made about his past business dealings.

In the latest salvo between the two warring candidates for the District 17 seat, Edwards charges that by trying to downplay his role in an oil-field services company that laid off 3,000 workers after a merger, Flores contradicts his résumé that says Flores was senior vice president and chief financial officer for Western Atlas at that time.

Flores submitted the résumé to Gov. Rick Perry in 2004 while seeking a position with the Texas Real Estate Commission, Edwards said in a news release.

“Either Bill Flores lied to the governor and the state of Texas in his résumé in 2004, which is a crime under Texas law, or he is lying now to the voters of this district about the role he played with a company that laid off over 3,000 workers,” Edwards’ spokeswoman Megan Jacobs said.

Chet Edwards (right) said Bill Flores’ 2004 résumé contradicts recent statements the congressional candidate has made about his past business dealings.

Flores has threatened legal action against Edwards, saying the Democratic incumbent’s TV ads are inaccurate and misrepresent Flores’ role with the company.

Flores’ legal team and Edwards’ lawyers have swapped letters in recent days as the campaign heats up.

Flores campaign manager Matt Mackowiak said Edwards’ latest charges of résumé embellishment “are just more desperate, unfounded charges.”

“Edwards continues to run bitter, negative advertising, and make wild-eyed charges because he understands people are tired of him saying one thing in Texas and voting another way in his hometown, Washington, D.C.,” Mackowiak said. “When the facts disprove one of Congressman Edwards’ charges about Bill’s career, he makes another one.”

Edwards renewed his call Friday for Flores to make public tax returns that could show if he benefited from the 1998 merger of two oil-field service firms, Baker Hughes and Western Atlas.

Flores has said that after the merger of the two companies, Baker Hughes laid the workers off, but he was with Western Atlas and had no authority to make management decisions for either company.

“If Mr. Flores has nothing to hide, he would make public his 1998-99 tax returns to see whether he benefited financially from a merger he helped negotiate and execute and from a company he helped run, while over 3,000 employees of the merged company were being laid off,” Jacob said.

Mackowiak said that Flores has filed all required financial disclosure forms and is still considering legal options “to counter Edwards’ reckless attack campaign.”

twitherspoon@wacotrib.com

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