Did Abbott back pulling Confederate plaque?

Abbott, legislator differ on whether deal made on Confederate object.

Legislator says governor agreed plaque should be removed from the Capitol, but Abbott’s office disputes that claim.

Gov. Greg Abbott and state Rep. Eric Johnson, D-Dallas, offered competing accounts of what transpired during their one-hour meeting in Dallas about Confederate symbols at the Capitol.

Johnson asked to meet with Abbott to make the case for why the Texas State Preservation Board should remove a 1959 plaque in the Capitol that states slavery did not cause the Civil War and that the South didn’t rebel against the United States.

Johnson told the American-Statesman after the meeting that Abbott agreed the plaque “contains historical inaccuracies” and that Abbott said he would seek to remove the plaque “in accordance with the law and established procedures.”

“He seemed to get it right away,” Johnson said. “He seemed inclined to work on it immediately.”

An Abbott spokeswoman released a statement calling the meeting productive but didn’t mention any agreement.

“They talked about ways to increase employment opportunities, increase educational opportunities and improve the lives of African-Americans in Dallas and across the state of Texas,” Ciara Matthews, Abbott’s deputy communication director, said in the statement. “On the plaque, the governor told Rep. Johnson he would ask the State Preservation Board to look into the issue, specifically the history of the plaque, as well as the history of the removal of a similar plaque at the Texas Supreme Court.”

An Abbott official who asked not to be identified later told the Statesman that the governor did