Andrew Wheat
By Andrew Wheat:
Sister Act: Gov. Perry’s Little-Known Sister is a Lobbyist for Lucrative Doctor-Owned Hospitals
Indicted Senator Carlos Uresti Exchanged Campaign Funds with Alleged Co-Conspirators
The transactions raise more legal and ethical questions for the embattled senator, experts say.
State Senator Carlos Uresti, who recently was indicted on 13 felony fraud and bribery charges, also exchanged almost $25,000 in campaign money with his alleged co-conspirators, the Observer found. Uresti, a San Antonio Democrat serving his 11th year in the … Read More
As Energy Secretary, Rick Perry Would Have Radioactive Conflicts
As governor, Perry did favors for a nuclear waste company formerly owned by a top donor. Will he do the same on a national stage?
As governor, Perry did favors for a nuclear waste company formerly owned by a top donor. Will he do the same on a national stage? Read More
Are Big Donors Abandoning Attorney General Ken Paxton?
Campaign finance reports suggest some donors are quietly rethinking their support of embroiled attorney general Ken Paxton even as top GOP leaders stay mum. Read More
Indictment Links Prominent Texas Family’s Horse Stable to Zetas Money-Laundering Case
Grahams have made campaign contributions to Texas' top elected officials
A prominent Texas family with connections to the state’s top officials is alleged to have purchased and boarded horses for a Mexican drug cartel engaged in money laundering, according to court records. Federal indictments recently unsealed in Austin allege that … Read More
The DeLay Scandal Turns Six
Catching up with the players from the disputed 2002 election.
The Tom DeLay scandal has been with us longer than most kindergartners. Six years have passed since the controversial 2002 election, when DeLay sprang his audacious plan to use possibly illegal corporate money to bury Texas Democrats. DeLay’s Texans for … Read More
DeLay’s Blank Check
Two years after scandal drove Tom DeLay from Congress and six years after DeLay allegedly violated state law to make over Texas’ congressional map, a state appeals court recently hammered out a stunning legal opinion that did all it could-and … Read More
Laura Miller’s Carbon Admission
In a bizarre turn of the revolving door, a power company with a right-wing pedigree has hired former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller to promote its bid to build a coal-gasification plant in Texas. Last January, Summit Power Group Inc.-headed by … Read More
Saving Speaker Craddick
Hometown boys from Midland angle to unseat unruly reps
This article has been updated. Last update: January 29, 2007 The No. 1 political bout pending in Texas is over who exercises “absolute” control over the House, as current Speaker Tom Craddick quaintly put it at the dramatic finale of … Read More
Patriots for Hire
Last fall a group of well-connected Republicans formed a new lobby and consulting firm in Austin. The Patriot Group’s partners boast strong ties to Tom DeLay’s indicted Texans for a Republican Majority PAC (TRMPAC) and to Texans for Lawsuit Reform … Read More