The Fifteenth Court of Appeals has blocked a district court ruling that would have granted Democrat gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa access to communications between Gov. Greg Abbott and Elon Musk.
Travis County District Judge Catherine Mauzy, a Democrat, had ordered the governor’s office to allow Hinojosa to read more than 1,300 pages of unredacted communications between Abbott and Musk.
Bloomberg Law reported that Mauzy donated $500 to Hinojosa on June 24 for her race against Abbott, and more than $700 to Hinojosa’s campaign for the Texas House in 2016.
Hinojosa claimed her request was for transparency: “The people have the right to transparency, and that’s why I’m continuing to fight for the documents between Elon Musk and Greg Abbott.”
However, Mauzy’s order did not give Hinojosa permission to share confidential information with the public.
Instead, she argued that Texas law gives lawmakers the power to inspect government records. Hinojosa is currently a sitting state representative whose term expires in January.
The 1,300 pages of communications allegedly involve Musk’s Texas business interests, school tax breaks, broadband infrastructure, and state grants.
According to KVUE, court documents argue that Hinojosa, whose term ends January 12, 2027, “is suffering present, continuing, imminent injury” because she has not been granted access to the requested communications between Abbott and Musk.
Abbott’s office stated that the district court’s order would have allowed Hinojosa to use her office to violate state public records laws.
“This was a sham lawsuit in a rigged district court,” said the governor’s press secretary Andrew Mahaleris. “The trial court judge refused to follow the law and rubber-stamped an illegal fishing expedition into the Governor’s Office. The appeals court rightly froze this abuse of process.”
While the appellate court’s stay temporarily halts the disclosure requirement for the governor’s office, Abbott has now petitioned to dismiss the case. The appellate court requested a response from Hinojosa by November 10.
