The Dallas Morning News sent a tweet out on Tuesday afternoon that implied they had inside knowledge of future actions to be taken by Travis County prosecutors against Republican state officials.The tweet by the Dallas publication stated, “Texas Rangers, Travis County DA to investigate agencies’ misuse of ’emergency leave.'”
The article reported only that a left-of-center self-styled “political research and strategic communications organization” was calling for an investigation of “multiple statewide officeholders [who] have provided certain employees with emergency leave packages as a form of severance pay or even settlement agreements.”
It also named the five state agencies mentioned in the letter: Office of Texas Attorney General, Department of Agriculture, General Land Office, Texas Retirement System, and Water Development Board.
The leader of the Lone Star Project, Matt Angle, was reported to have written letters to the Texas Ranger Public Corruption Unit, the Travis County District Attorney, and the State Auditor’s Office asking for what he called “a formal investigation into the fraudulent use of the emergency leave provision in state law and other potential statutory violation that have resulted in high-level agency workers being paid full salaries and benefits after the employees have stopped working due to resignation, firing, job elimination or wrongdoing.”
On its website, the Lone Star Project states that it “is organized as both a federal political action committee registered with the Federal Elections Commission and a General-Purpose political action committee registered with the Texas Ethics Commission.” The group also claims that “The Lone Star Fund is a non-ideological PAC and is not affiliated with the National Democratic Party or the Texas Democratic Party.” The Morning News article describes the group as “A Democratic advocacy group.”
The Dallas publication also noted that “another liberal advocacy group,” Progress Texas, asked the state auditor in April to look into the use of the leave policy at the OAG. Progress Texas describes itself as “a public relations shop promoting progressive ideals while also pushing back on bad policies and bad behavior from the right wing.” The organization’s website states, “We focus on issues important to a growing number of people in our state: affordable healthcare, voting rights, LGBT rights, abortion access, fighting income inequality, marijuana policy reform, and accountability in government.”
A tweet from Wednesday morning from the Morning News more accurately stated, “State officials asked to investigate agencies’ misuse of ’emergency leave’ as severance.”
Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2
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