State Fires Employee with Long Ties to Embattled Auditor

Although he has not been charged with any wrongdoing, a "satellite" employee of the Washington State Auditor's office has been fired.

Jason JeRue worked for the office in what was called a satellite position, and had been on leave since Auditor Troy Kelley took a leave of absence. Kelley, accused of ten counts in a federal indictment - including fraud, theft and tax evasion - has not yet resigned.

JeRue, who lives in California, has had an on-again off-again business relationship with Kelley, dating back to when they worked at a mortgage title company in Los Angeles in the late 1990's.  Kelley hired JeRue after he became auditor in 2012.

Auditor's office Spokesman Thomas Shapley would not give any details as to why JeRue was officially fired.

JeRue was, however, part of the federal subpoena seeking numerous documents from the auditor's office.

Although Kelley has not formally quit, as of Monday this week, any reference to him has been taken down from the State Auditor's official website.  He has been replaced by Jan Jutte, whom Kelley himself requested take over his job while he is on leave of absence.

Even if no charges end up being filed against JeRue, some experts in Olympia believe his dismissal could be part of a "house-cleaning," where officials want to rid the office of anyone who has ties to the embattled auditor.

However, evidence has surfaced that Kelley "created" JeRue's technical writer position for his long-time associate. Reports have also indicated JeRue's hard drive on his computer was "damaged" after federal agents requested numerous auditor's office documents he had in his possession.