Buzbee calls for inquiry of intern, Turner
Challenger questions $95K placement supported by mayor
Mayoral challenger Tony Buzbee on Tuesday called for an independent investigation into the Houston Airport System’s hiring of a $95,000-a-year intern and his relationship to Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Buzbee, a millionaire lawyer and businessman, repeatedly criticized Turner for telling a TV reporter that he had never met the 31-year-old intern, Marvin Agumagu, despite ample evidence of prior connections with him, which Turner since has acknowledged.
“Let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture,” Buzbee said at a news conference. “If you can’t trust your mayor on something like this, how can you trust him when he says we have a budget crisis and we can’t pay firefighters?”
Buzbee produced a copy of a letter of recommendation Turner wrote on Agumagu’s behalf and a screenshot of a Facebook post in which Agumagu calls Turner “my mentor.” Buzbee also said he has text messages between Turner and Agumagu that were “heavily redacted,” though he did not produce the text messages.
In a statement, Turner acknowledged his prior connection to Agumagu, days after telling a KPRC reporter, “I have no idea
who you are talking about,” when asked about their relationship.
“Regarding my statement about Mr. Agumagu, I do know Marvin and, quite candidly, the reporter’s question caught me off guard as I was rushing to another scheduled city event after leaving the Houston Police Department’s cadet graduation,” Turner said.
At the news conference Tuesday afternoon, Buzbee repeatedly questioned the nature of the mayor’s relationship with Agumagu, and suggested he would confront Turner about it at a debate Wednesday.
“All we know is, they were exchanging text messages, but we don’t know what they were talking about,” Buzbee said. “So, maybe that might be a question when we’re at the debate, we could ask the mayor, ‘why were you texting this man, and what is it that you were texting about, since he’s somebody that you claim you don’t even know who he is?’ ”
Sue Davis, communications director for Turner’s campaign, responded by calling Buzbee’s news conference “more noise and more lies” and comparing Buzbee to President Donald Trump.
“Buzbee isn’t just funding Trump; he is emulating his sleazy campaign tactics — right down to a Trumpian disinformation campaign,” Davis said. “Despite the millions he’s spent to attempt to buy his way into office, Buzbee is lagging in the polls. So, he’s taking a page straight out of the Trump playbook to try to change the subject.”
Buzbee’s call for an investigation comes a day after KPRC reported that Turner signed off on the $95,000 internship for Agumagu at the Houston Airport System.
Turner released a statement Tuesday explaining that the position is part of the airport system’s “Executive Internship Program” and said Agumagu’s salary “is commensurate with his education and experience.” Houston Airport System Director Mario Diaz created the program “to attract new talent in the field of aviation” and to serve as an entry to a city management training program, according to a 2018 memo released by the city Tuesday.
Agumagu held a handful of positions at the city before receiving the airport internship, starting as an intern in the city’s legal department in June 2016, according to his LinkedIn page. He then served in the late Councilman Larry Green’s office, and held positions in the mayor’s office of government relations and trade and international affairs.
He received a master’s degree in legal studies from Texas State University and a law degree from Texas Southern University.
According to the KPRC story, Agumagu in September 2018 emailed Houston Chief Development Officer Andy Icken, “Per Mayor Turner’s request, I am sending you my resume for your review.” Icken then asked Diaz in an email later that day, “Could you develop a position?”
Diaz offered Agumagu a position and wrote to Icken, “I offered him a one-year internship to work directly for me,” to which Icken responded, “Good approach,” KPRC reported.
On Tuesday, Buzbee said he had called the Texas attorney general’s office about the prospect of launching an investigation, as well as the governor’s office, calling the incident “a perfect investigation” for the division of the Texas Rangers dealing with state officers and employees.
“There should be an investigation from the Public Integrity Unit to figure out why a position was created for somebody who had no experience, who obviously has some relationship — and we can all speculate as to what that relationship is,” Buzbee said. “To me, it’s all about good government. Why did he do that?”
Councilman and mayoral candidate Dwight Boykins said he also has submitted a letter asking for the city’s inspector general to investigate the allegations.
KPRC reported that Agumagu stood “side-by-side” with Turner at a 2016 charity basketball game; walked with the mayor’s team at the 2017 Astros World Series parade; and was listed as Turner’s guest at a 2018 banquet honoring late Texans owner Bob McNair.
Turner also acknowledged Agumagu by name at a May city event celebrating Africa Day, according to KPRC.
Davis said staffers always accompany the mayor at events.
Attached to Turner’s statement was a memo from Diaz explaining the duties of Agumagu’s position, which includes working “closely with the most senior executive(s)” at the airport system and assisting in “day-to-day executive operations,” among other duties. Diaz also explained why he is recommending Agumagu as “the first candidate” for the program.
“Mr. Agumagu has significant work experience in Governmental Relations and International Affairs,” Diaz wrote. “This internship will give Mr. Agumagu the opportunity to gain valuable applied experience and make connections in career paths he may be considering within the Aviation industry...”
Turner on Tuesday also linked to a document outlining the city’s administrative policy for filling “key executive management positions.” According to the document, all such position postings and hirings must be processed through the city Human Resources Department’s executive recruiter. It was not clear if Icken and Diaz followed the protocol in the series of emails reported by KPRC.
Boykins also questioned the salary given to Agumagu. “The process is not right when you have city employees that’ve been here for 30 years who are not making that kind of money,” he said. “Deputy directors aren’t making that kind of money.”
Mayoral candidate Bill King said he was troubled by Turner’s initial denial to KPRC, and agreed that an investigation was in order to paint a full picture of how Agumagu received the internship and his current salary.
“The thing that bothers me more than anything else is that this is more money than 95 percent of our city employees make,” King said. “If I were a Solid Waste employee and I found out Sylvester’s paying a young man that he has some kind of relationship with double what I make, I’d be furious.”
Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor of political science at University of Houston, said the timing of the allegations could be problematic for Turner.
“The mayor needs to be solidifying support rather than engaging in damage control,” Rottinghaus said. “The home stretch is upon us, and the more time (Turner) spends explaining, the less time he spends mobilizing voters.”
Buzbee and King have focused their campaigns around accusations of corruption at City Hall under Turner. Rottinghaus said recent polls suggest those claims have not stuck with most voters, who are more concerned with things, such as flooding and trash pickup.