Questions are being raised surrounding a fraudulent text message about a challenger to Speaker Dade Phelan.
A mass text message purporting to come from a group called “Texans for Conservative Leadership” was sent on Tuesday with a message against State Rep. David Cook (R–Mansfield), who is currently challenging Phelan to lead the House in the next session. The text took aim at Cook’s vote to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, stating: “Texans can’t afford to have an untrustworthy Speaker.”
While it’s unknown how large the list of recipients was, a reporter for the Austin-based outlet The Texan quickly shared the text on X, asserting that it came from “the Tim Dunn-funded Texans for Conservative Leadership.” Formed earlier this year, the TCL PAC has sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to conservative elected officials.
Shelby Griesinger, the group’s treasurer, quickly batted down the accusation. On social media she wrote, “I am the treasurer of Texans for Conservative Leadership PAC. This was not sent out by our PAC.”
The X post was later deleted and replaced with a version that stated “Texans for Conservative Leadership says this text attacking [David Cook] was not sent from them.”
Griesinger confirmed she was not asked about the authenticity of the text messages prior to the initial social media post.
While those behind the scheme have yet to be identified, the text messages appear to have been sent by a 501c4 organization using the same name.
Tony McDonald, the PAC’s lawyer, says the case has been referred to the attorney general’s office for investigation.
“If I were these people’s lawyer, I’d be telling them to hire a criminal defense lawyer as well. Defrauding Texans is not just a matter of civil law, it can have criminal implications, too. Texans are rightly outraged when bad actors steal identities and impersonate others in an effort to dupe citizens,” said McDonald.
A barebones website that accompanied the text message, described as “fraudulent” by Griesinger, names the group as “Texans for Conservative Leader Ship [sic].”
It’s unclear if this is a typographical error or an effort on the part of the deception scheme to create a legal defense. If so, McDonald says, it won’t work.
“If they think they’re going to get away by calling it ‘Texans for Conservative Leader Ship,’ that plan is taking on water fast, and ought to be scuttled immediately.”
Cook commented on the effort by calling it “desperate” and noting that the new organization was “just registered less than a week ago” while he announced 48 supporters nearly two months ago.
Griesinger said the message proved the Austin swamp is desperate to keep power in the hands of cronies and out of the hands of citizens.
“Unfortunately for them, more and more Texans are seeing through their smoke screens. This desperate and dishonest attempt to trick Texans into keeping Dade Phelan as speaker will fail,” said Griesinger.
Phelan did not respond to a request for comment on whether his campaign was behind the deception effort.
Tim Dunn is a board member of Texas Scorecard.
