Sullivan files Criminal Complaint against hypocritical former Texas "Ethics" Commissioner!!!

"For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."
Galatians 6:8

This is just all sorts of awesome:

For more than a decade, an appointed member of the Texas Ethics Commission issued fines and promulgated rules designed to silence citizens while lavishing legislative offices with gifts on behalf of his “day job.” That’s illegal, on multiple fronts, and for it Tom Harrison should be held accountable.

So today I filed a sworn criminal complaint [pdf format, 101 pages] against Tom Harrison with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. He should be investigated and charged with having knowingly violated Texas Penal Code, Chapter 36 (“Bribery and Corrupt Influence”). Section 36.09 forbids anyone from conferring “any benefit on a public servant that he knows the public servant is prohibited by law from accepting.”

That includes sports tickets, meals, notebooks, golf tees and other items Harrison provided legislative offices.

As a former executive director of the Texas Ethics Commission, Harrison abruptly resigned from the TEC this summer after we demanded emails he had exchanged with legislative offices from his full-time perch at the quasi-governmental “Texas County and District Retirement System.”

Now we know why he scurried out the door.

The emails, which cover a 12-month period, show Harrison lavishing key legislative staffers with tickets to events, merchandise and meals all while promoting legislation beneficial to his employer.

As a member of the TEC, Harrison voted for Ethics Advisory Opinion No. 535, in which he opined that by merely accepting a legislator’s invitation to speak about a bill, a citizen could cause themselves to be required to register as a lobbyist. And yet Harrison was spending untold dollars promoting his employer’s legislative agenda.

Read the whole thing here.

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Michael and Tony McDonald also hosted a Facebook video conference this afternoon:



Highlights:

• Tom Harrison is former Vice Chair of the "Ethics" Commission.

• Texas "Ethics" Commission was originally set up to handle paperwork.

• Harrison colluded with Senate Democrats to prevent anyone else from taking the position.

• Harrison was an obscure taxpayer funded lobbyist while serving on the "Ethics" commission; that's illegal.

• Harrison was also giving gifts to legislators and their staff; that's also illegal.

• "Significant evident of violations of the penal code."
• Author's Note: Get your mind out of the gutter, we can't help it if lawyers talk that way! :P

• Members of the "Ethics" commission can't engage in lobbying activity.

• "The 'Ethics' commission has become a great threat."

• "Our expectation is that the Travis County district attorney will...do their job."
• Author's Note: They won't, but that could set up a REALLY fun session in 2019!!!

Kudos to the team at Empower Texans for this long overdue action!!!