Bonnen spared criminal charges
AUSTIN — “Repugnant.” “Demeaning.” “Lacking in character.” Those were words Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne used to describe House Speaker Dennis Bonnen’s comments during a now infamous secretly-recorded meeting in his office.
One word she didn’t use to describe it: “criminal.”
After a 10-week Texas Rangers investigation into allegations Bonnen tried to bribe a conservative activist to spend money targeting 10 House Republicans in the 2020 elections and spare all others in exchange for press credentials, Yenne said there is not enough evidence to prosecute him for criminal wrongdoing.
“As repugnant as Speaker Bonnen’s actions and statements are, I do not believe there is sufficient evidence from the June 12, 2019 meeting to warrant a criminal prosecution of Speaker Bonnen for bribery or solicitation of a gift by a public servant, therefore no criminal charges will be brought,” she wrote in a statement Thursday.
The decision comes two days after Bonnen’s forced retirement. After losing support from Republican allies in the House, the 47year-old bank executive from Lake Jackson said Tuesday he would not run for re-election. The decision means he will give up both the coastal state House district he has represented for 22 years and the speakership he was elected to in January. Barring a special session, he plans to serve out his term until lawmakers convene in January 2021.
“It is unfortunate that a surreptitiously obtained 64-minute recording turned into a ten week investigation and ultimately ended with the defamation of a man’s quarter-century in public service,” Bonnen’s spokeswoman Cait Meisenheimer said in a statement. “Unfortunately we now live in a political climate where one is guilty until proven innocent, and not only has that thrown the ability of Republicans to hold onto our House majority into jeopardy, it sets a dangerous precedent moving forward.”
The decision by the district attorney not to bring charges is the latest twist a political saga that began in July when Michael Quinn Sullivan, CEO of Empower Texans, accused Bonnen of offering him a bribe.
After Bonnen denied the allegation, Sullivan revealed he secretly recorded the meeting and let Republicans listen to it without releasing it publicly. Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock Republican and then chairman of the caucus, was also present at the meeting and stepped down from his leadership post in August as the allegations gained steam.
The Texas Democratic Party sued for access to the tape, but Sullivan released it on his own last week, confirming Bonnen asked him to go easy on most House Republicans and instead target 10 moderate Republicans he wanted replaced. In exchange, Bonnen offered press credentials to a group affiliated with Sullivan. The group was denied credentials earlier this year that guarantee access to the House floor and lawmakers during deliberations and vote.
Bonnen was also heard on the tape making derogatory comments about fellow representatives, referring to one Democratic woman from Dallas as “vile” and questioning the sexuality of a lawmaker from Houston.
The most damning comments appeared to be of Bonnen and Burrows planning to escalate a war on local governments. Both agreed they “hate cities and counties” and vowed to push a bill to ban them from using lobbyists at the Capitol.
Bonnen, who has fought for years to lower homeowners’ property taxes, said local government leaders who were “dumb ass enough” to meet with him were told “with great clarity, my goal is for this to be the worst session in the history of the Legislature for cities and counties.”
City and county leaders were enraged by the comments after a bruising legislative session where Republican-led Legislature assailed local governments for installing mandatory sick leave requirements for private businesses, banned them from using red light cameras, and limited how much cities can grow their property tax revenue without a referendum.
The House General Investigating Committee, which first requested the Texas Rangers investigate, has yet to weigh in on the scandal. The panel tapped three former public officials to serve as advisers who will review the Rangers’ findings and deliver a final report to the five-member committee. The advisers include former state Rep. Patricia Gray, a Democrat, former Rep. Will Hartnett, a Republican, and former Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court Thomas Phillips.