Paxton battling supporter over ethics probe

Attorney General’s Office backing agency investigating Empower Texans’ use of money in political campaigns

“Politicians don’t bite the hand that feeds them, and Paxton owes his job to the very people he’s opposing ...” Craig McDonald, Texans for Public Justice

AUSTIN — Attorney General Ken Paxton says one of his biggest campaign donors and most ardent supporters has stifled a state investigation by refusing to comply with subpoenas from the Texas Ethics Commission, according to a new court filing.

For the first time in more than a year, the state Attorney General’s Office is representing the ethics commission in a long-running legal battle with Michael Quinn Sullivan, one of the state’s most influential conservative political figures, and the anti-tax and limited-government group he runs, Empower Texans.

Paxton’s office is leading the charge for state-issued subpoenas against the politically active nonprofit group with vast clout in tea party circles and whose political arm contributed $375,000 and guaranteed a $1 million loan for his attorney general campaign.

Watchdog groups say the group’s ties to Paxton create a conflict of interest, while the attorney general’s office maintains it simply is doing its job to defend state agencies in court.

The case revolves around a “dark money” investigation launched more than three years ago by the ethics commission based on sworn complaints about Empower Texans’ campaign finance activity. The group is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that is allowed under federal law to spend money to electioneer without having to disclose its donors.

Subpoenas issued by the ethics commission in February 2014 for a trove of documents from Empower Texans and Sullivan have resulted in a series of lawsuits, including one filed last month asking for the subpoenas to be quashed. A hearing scheduled for this week in Travis County District Court over the le-

gality of the subpoenas was postponed.

The first brief in the case from Paxton’s office amounted to a strongly worded defense of the ethics commission’s authority, arguing the new Empower Texans lawsuit is “the latest tactic in an ongoing effort … to refuse to comply with TEC’s lawfully issued subpoenas.” The subpoenas, according to the brief, will allow the ethics commission to obtain necessary information to make a final ruling in the case. ‘Thwarting probe’

Empower Texans and Sullivan “are thwarting TEC’s attempts to investigate (and potentially dismiss) the sworn complaints at issue because, ultimately, plaintiffs do not believe they have to comply with TEC’s lawful power to investigate sworn complaints,” the attorney general’s office wrote.

The subpoenas have become a central issue in the dark money probe, as the ethics commission argues it cannot move forward with its investigation without the documents. The eightmember commission voted to take the unprecedented step in June to ask a court to enforce the subpoenas. In the two months since, however, the commission has yet to actually do that, according to a court filing.

The subpoenas, which allow for the redaction of names, seek the release of a wide range of documents from Sullivan and Empower Texans, including communications with donors, lawmakers and members of the state’s executive branch. They also include “time records, calendars and diaries maintained by or for” Sullivan, along with two other employees of Empower Texans.

Sullivan has turned over 76 pages of documents, according to a court filing. Ethics commission officials maintain that hundreds of pages of documents have yet to be turned over, and have accused Sullivan of destroying documents after the subpoenas were issued.

A federal judge called the subpoenas “absurd” last year, but refused to quash them. Negotiations since then have led the ethics commission to narrow the scope of its subpoena.

“They need to respect that my client has a right to the First Amendment,” said Empower Texans attorney Joe Nixon. “Some of the information they’re entitled to get and some they are not.” Supporting Paxton

The involvement of the attorney general in the most recent lawsuit involving Sullivan is notable not only because of Paxton’s close ties to Empower Texans.

Despite taking an active role in the ethics commission’s legal sparring with Sullivan previously, the state campaign finance regulator sidelined the attorney general’s office in its legal fights with the conservative activist last year. It hired prominent Houstonbased law firm Beck Redden for court action dealing with an investigation focused on whether Sullivan violated state law by failing to register as a lobbyist.

That case remains pending at a state appeals court.

In addition to the sixfigure contributions and serving as the guarantor of a $1 million campaign loan, some have pointed to the unwavering support Empower Texans has showered on Paxton throughout a grand jury investigation that culminated in a threecount felony indictment against the attorney general earlier this month.

Empower Texans also backed Paxton in his failed run for speaker of the Texas House in 2011, and during his run for state Senate in 2012, calling him “a rare candidate who has cast politically courageous votes.”

Craig McDonald, director of the left-leaning Texans for Public Justice, said Paxton is awash with potential conflict in the case. Conflict seen

“Politicians don’t bite the hand that feeds them, and Paxton owes his job to the very people he’s opposing in the courtroom,” said McDonald, whose group intervened last year to ask a court to remove the attorney general’s office as lead counsel in a separate case involving the ethics commission. “The public deserves a courtroom advocate that has clean hands.”

Assistant Attorney Generals Melissa Holman and Amanda Cochran-McCall have been assigned as the lead lawyers to defend the ethics commission in the Sullivan subpoena fight, according to court documents.

“As in all cases, we will capably represent our client agency in this matter,” attorney general spokeswoman Cynthia Meyer said, “as they asked us to do.”