Texas charity that backs Trump’s stolen-election lie has ties to Ken Paxton

Sign up for The Brief, our each day e-newsletter that retains readers up to pace on probably the most important Texas news.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is fairly aware of Catherine Engelbrecht. He’s been a visitor on her podcast, chatting about their shared ardour: rooting out voter fraud. They each have gone to nice lengths to strive to assist former President Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

And when Engelbrecht, founding father of the nonprofit True the Vote, has discovered herself in sizzling water, Paxton’s workplace has turned out to be a useful ally.

Most not too long ago, a state decide sided with Engelbrecht’s argument that it must be Paxton’s workplace — not a courtroom — that ought to probe allegations made by a True the Vote donor who says he was swindled out of $2.5 million.

But greater than a 12 months after the case was dismissed, Paxton’s workplace received’t say whether or not it ever investigated the donor dispute. Last month, Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting discovered that True the Vote had engaged in a collection of questionable transactions that despatched greater than $1 million to Engelbrecht and different insiders, whereas failing to again up its voter fraud claims.

In the reporting of that story, Paxton’s workplace withheld monetary paperwork and electronic mail communications from Reveal and issued contradictory and inaccurate statements concerning the nonprofit, which has been a number one voice in driving the voter fraud motion from the political fringes to the core of GOP ideology.

The embattled lawyer common skated through a contested primary race this 12 months. But he faces potential disbarment for trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election outcomes, is under investigation by the FBI, is getting sued by whistleblowers in his workplace and awaits trial for a 7-year-old felony securities fraud indictment. In their lawsuit, former workers members have accused him of utilizing his workplace to present authorized favors to an ally, saying he appointed a special prosecutor to goal adversaries of a donor who was underneath investigation.

His workplace advocated on Engelbrecht’s behalf earlier than the Texas Supreme Court in 2016 when she bought into authorized hassle together with her earlier nonprofit group, King Street Patriots, for being overtly political. He appeared on her podcast in July 2020, throughout which Engelbrecht mentioned she considers Paxton a buddy.

“I can’t say thank you enough for the dignity and the respect that you bring to that office,” she mentioned.

“I feel blessed to have this opportunity, especially in a time like this. It’s really a crisis,” Paxton replied.

“God bless you. God bless you, Ken Paxton, God bless you. And thank you for all that you and your team do,” Engelbrecht added.

Months later, the 2 went to extraordinary lengths to assist Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen. Paxton filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Texas in search of to overturn the election in key states the place Trump had misplaced, a go well with that the U.S. Supreme Court eventually dismissed as a result of Texas had no authorized standing to problem different states’ outcomes.

Engelbrecht, in the meantime, accepted $2.5 million from a serious conservative donor to lead a authorized and PR marketing campaign to contest the election outcomes. However, True the Vote shortly dismissed the lawsuits it filed and supplied no proof of voter fraud. The donor, Fred Eshelman, turned disillusioned and sued True the Vote in rural Austin County in February 2021 for misusing his donation.

Anytime a charity in Texas is sued, the state lawyer common’s workplace is notified underneath regulation. On March 9, 2021, Assistant Attorney General Zeenia Challa wrote to the Austin County district clerk, notifying the courtroom that the workplace discovered concerning the dispute. Challa mentioned she was “currently reviewing the documents provided in the proceeding to determine if Attorney General participation is warranted.”

On the identical day, an lawyer for True the Vote wrote to Challa that he anticipated that she would need to know “that the funds spent by this charitable organization are being spent consistent with the purposes for which the entity was formed.”

“You will see, if it comes to that point, that all of the expenditures of True the Vote have been made in order to evaluate, investigate and ultimately educate on the issues of voter integrity,” lawyer Brock Akers mentioned within the letter, which was produced in response to an open data request.

Neither courtroom data nor data launched by the lawyer common’s workplace point out whether or not Challa responded to letters from True the Vote’s attorneys.

On March 31, 2021, attorneys for True the Vote argued that the lawsuit didn’t have standing as a result of it was a matter for the Texas lawyer common’s workplace.

“Instead, the only true party in interest relative to money donated to this charitable organization is the State of Texas, as represented by the Attorney General,” True the Vote argued, in accordance to courtroom data.

The Austin County decide agreed with True the Vote’s argument April 8, 2021, liberating Engelbrecht’s nonprofit from the specter of getting to return $2.5 million.

More than a 12 months after the case was dismissed, Paxton’s workplace received’t say whether or not it ever investigated. And it refused to reply questions on whether or not it is going to look at the group’s funds. Engelbrecht didn’t reply to questions associated to her relationship with Paxton.

Eshelman has appealed the decide’s ruling.

Records withheld

As Reveal sought to higher perceive True the Vote’s funds and whether or not Paxton regarded into the donor dispute, the news group requested numerous data associated to the nonprofit that are public data underneath the Texas Public Information Act and held by the lawyer common’s workplace. Reveal additionally requested inside lawyer common communications about True the Vote.

In response to the request for the data, Assistant Attorney General June Harden mentioned True the Vote was now not a charity and closed the request with out turning over any paperwork. When pressed on the choice, Harden later mentioned she “misspoke.” Indeed, data with the state point out True the Vote is an lively charity. The request was reopened.

As is the case in lots of states, the Texas lawyer common can hold data of nonprofits, like their tax filings. The lawyer common’s workplace first mentioned it didn’t have True the Vote’s tax filings, then later acknowledged it had the nonprofit’s 2019 return however refused to launch it. To make its case, it cited a common statute that says tax returns are confidential for the common individual.

Joe Larsen, a First Amendment lawyer and board member of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, mentioned that statute didn’t apply. “That’s the kind of information that’s supposed to be available to the public,” Larsen mentioned. The lawyer common’s workplace “has no basis for withholding that.”

In Texas, it’s often potential to attraction data choices made by public companies. However, the lawyer common is the celebration that decides on the attraction.

Ultimately, Reveal obtained variations of True the Vote’s tax returns from different sources, they usually present a collection of questionable monetary transactions.

At one level, Engelbrecht supplied Reveal a copy of the 2019 tax return that was considerably totally different from the version on the IRS website. The IRS model confirmed that True the Vote had loaned her greater than $113,000; the model supplied to Reveal didn’t checklist that information. The two variations listed totally different board members as effectively.

When Reveal requested data from the lawyer common, Paxton additionally withheld some communications associated to True the Vote, citing attorney-client privilege. It’s unclear what these data could possibly be. Larsen mentioned there could possibly be some communications that could be withheld underneath attorney-client privilege about True the Vote, nevertheless it doesn’t imply the workplace can withhold all communications.

It’s commonplace for regulation enforcement companies to not touch upon pending investigations, however in different circumstances, Paxton has publicly acknowledged when he’s investigating a charity.

The Texas State Bar filed a lawsuit in opposition to Paxton in May for falsely saying he’d uncovered proof that forged doubt on the 2020 election end result. Paxton might face a reprimand or have his authorized license revoked.

“Texas Bar: I’ll see you and the leftists that control you in court,” Paxton mentioned in response.

Paxton introduced his office was investigating the Texas Bar Foundation, which is the nonprofit arm of the State Bar that gives authorized providers and training. He claimed the nonprofit was “facilitating mass influx of illegal aliens” by donating cash to teams that “encourage, participate in, and fund illegal immigration at the Texas-Mexico border.”

Research debunked

While Paxton has remained silent on True the Vote, the nonprofit’s analysis grabbed consideration through the hearings of the Select Committee to Investigate the January sixth Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In a video proven through the second listening to final month, former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr mocked the movie “2000 Mules,” which used True the Vote’s claims that anonymized cellphone knowledge round poll drop packing containers pointed to “ballot harvesting.” That’s when a 3rd celebration — like a family member, activist group or nursing residence — collects and submits absentee ballots on behalf of others, which is legal in a majority of states.

In his videotaped testimony, Barr mentioned True the Vote’s knowledge and video proof had been “lacking.”

“My opinion then and my opinion now is that the election was not stolen by fraud,” Barr mentioned. “And I haven’t seen anything since the election that changes my mind on that, including the ‘2000 Mules’ movie.”

He broke out in amusing.

Shortly after the listening to, Engelbrecht joined former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s “War Room” present, the place the 2 bashed Barr’s testimony and made veiled threats in opposition to the previous U.S. lawyer common.

“Bill Barr, we are coming for you, bro,” Bannon said. Engelbrecht nodded her head.

“Beware the fury of a risen people, this is not going to go well if they continue to push this aside,” Engelbrecht mentioned.

In the weeks following the movie’s May 7 launch, Engelbrecht has hosted a collection of question-and-answer boards. However, she engages solely with individuals who pay to subscribe to her content material creator platform on Locals.

Several commenters not too long ago requested Engelbrecht when she deliberate to launch the voter fraud proof following the debut of “2000 Mules.” She didn’t tackle a selected date.

Engelbrecht, arriving late to a current livestream and from her automotive, learn aloud from a prolonged commenter’s publish about election fraud that went on to say, “I’m not happy about being scammed by True the Vote. And given the apparent holes in the arguments and perhaps the shadiness of the graphics, I certainly cannot publicly endorse ‘2000 mules.’”

She paused.

“This one would have been a fun question to start from the bottom and read up,” she mentioned.

“Sorry you didn’t like the movie and that you didn’t like the graphics. Take that up with Dinesh,” Engelbrecht mentioned, referring to director Dinesh D’Souza. “And if you feel like you’re being scammed, then why are you on this Locals channel? You had to subscribe to even ask the question. That’s your choice.”

Shortly after, Engelbrecht ended her livestream early.

This story was produced by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news group. Learn extra at Reveal’s website and subscribe to their weekly newsletter.

When you be part of us at The Texas Tribune Festival Sept. 22-24 in downtown Austin, you’ll hear from changemakers who’re driving innovation, lawmakers who’re taking cost with new insurance policies, trade leaders who’re pushing Texas ahead and so many others. See the rising speaker checklist and buy tickets.