After four days, House Speaker Dennis Bonnen has finally responded to the substance of the information I shared about a meeting in his Capitol office.
His first response to our public report was a deceitful and rambling email to Republican lawmakers Friday evening. Many noted his non-comment on the central issue of my article regarding the offer he made to me and Empower Texans. Simply: If we would withhold criticism of the legislative session, withhold political attacks on some members, and—most notably—use our resources against a list of Republicans he had GOP Caucus Chairman Dustin Burrows provide, Bonnen would grant media credentials to Texas Scorecard‘s reporters.
In a press statement today, Bonnen asserted: “At no point in our conversation was Sullivan provided with a list of target Members.”
Because Bonnen now claims Chairman Burrows was in the meeting as a “witness,” these three questions should be put to him:
- Does he stand by Bonnen’s misrepresentation of the meeting and its substance?
- Did Speaker Bonnen not in the meeting say “he’ll show you the list…”?
- Then did Bonnen not leave the room and did Burrows not read a list of Republican targets the two of them hoped Empower Texans’ political action committee would “fund” against?
