Source: Dukes seeking a deal with prosecutors
State representative has been the focus of a corruption investigation.
Embattled state Rep. Dawnna Dukes is attempting to strike a deal with Travis County prosecutors that could lessen the potential consequences of the corruption investigation that has dogged her for months, according to a courthouse source with knowledge of the investigation.
Prosecutors were prepared to ask a grand jury to indict the veteran Austin Democratic lawmaker before Dukes announced Monday that she will retire in January, said the source, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation. A lawyer for Dukes reached out to the district attorney’s office and is negotiating with prosecu-
tors, who have delayed taking the case to a grand jury, the source said. No deal has been struck yet.
District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg declined to say whether her office was negotiating with Dukes’ representatives, but she did say the retirement announcement will factor into how her office pursues the case.
“It will affect how we act, but it’s not determinative,” Lehmberg told the American-Statesman.
Dukes didn’t respond to a request for comment Friday, but she has said the reason she will retire on Jan. 10 is that the health problems she has been coping with since an August 2013 car crash have worsened. Although Dukes in the past has detailed on her Facebook page her medical issues and procedures, like a surgery to remove spinal discs, she so far has declined to elaborate on the specific issues that are causing her to step down.
Her retirement announcement came the week after the Texas Rangers delivered their criminal investigation of Dukes to the district attorney’s office. The source said prosecutors were confident they could obtain indictments related to two issues: Dukes’ directing her legislative staff to work on nongovernmental projects and do personal errands, and Dukes’ misusing her campaign account.
Tom “Smitty” Smith, Texas director of the watchdog group Public Citizen, said Travis County officials “should go ahead and prosecute.”
“Misuse of campaign funds and legislative staff is a very serious breach of trust, and many of these practices appear to date back before her illness,” Smith said. “While I have a lot of sympathy for Ms. Dukes during this time in her life, these are violations that should not be forgotten.”
It is too late in the election calendar to remove Dukes’ name from the Nov. 8 ballot, and she is expected to win her predominantly Democratic district despite her legal and health issues. Dukes’ plan to step down Jan. 10 means that she will leave office after she finishes her current term, which will trigger a special election next year. Her district, meanwhile, would likely lack a representative for most of the next legislative session.
Once she retires, Dukes would get a pay boost. State representatives make about $41,000 over two years, including standard payments for daily living expenses during the legislative session. Dukes’ state pension will be about $74,000 a year.
There is nothing binding about Dukes’ announcement, meaning that if she wins re-election, she could decide to take the oath of office for a new two-year term Jan. 10.
Craig McDonald, director of the liberal nonprofit Texans for Public Justice, said that a potential deal with prosecutors could make Dukes’ retirement binding. McDonald said it is appropriate for prosecutors to consider Dukes’ stepping down as they pursue the case.
“Giving up your office is in some sense part of a punishment, and I think it should be taken into account as part of her overall punishment or retribution,” McDonald said.
Dukes’ legal trouble began when members of her staff complained in early 2016 that she was requiring them to run personal errands for her and to work full-time on the African American Community Heritage Festival, an East Austin nonprofit event she co-founded. In one instance, she gave a staffer a raise to cover gas money for driving Dukes’ daughter to and from school, the Statesman reported in April.
The state auditor’s office investigated those allegations and then forwarded the case to the district attorney’s office, which in turn brought in the Rangers.
The criminal probe then widened to include Dukes’ campaign spending, the source said. The Statesman in June reported that Dukes has made numerous questionable expenditures from her campaign account, including $13,000 in payments to family members, $2,700 to a seamstress and $30,000 on gas.
A spokesman for Gabriel Nila, Dukes’ Republican opponent, said in a statement that Dukes is essentially trying “to save herself jail time.”
“Targets of criminal investigations often negotiate to reduce their criminal liability,” said the spokesman, Matt Mackowiak. “But she’s trading public office to reduce her potential criminal penalties.”