Texas GOP House Speaker To Quit After Taping Scandal

The Texas Tribune reports:

First-term Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen on Tuesday announced he will not seek reelection to the lower chamber in 2020 — completing a stunning fall for the Angleton Republican who enjoyed near unanimous support in the House just months earlier.

Bonnen’s political future was first called into question in late July, when hardline conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan, who heads the group Empower Texans, revealed that Sullivan, Bonnen and one of the speaker’s top allies had met at the Texas Capitol the month before.

At that meeting, Sullivan alleged, Bonnen and state Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, suggested Empower Texans go after a list of 10 House Republicans and told Sullivan his group could have media access to the lower chamber in 2021.

The Austin Statesman reports:



Bonnen had a much better relationship with Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) during his single session leading the state House.

But he flubbed earlier this summer when he asked conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan to target up to 10 state representatives who opposed a bill to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying. In the same meeting, Bonnen made several lewd and disparaging comments about fellow lawmakers.

Sullivan was surreptitiously recording the meeting. For months, rumors of the tape’s contents rocked Austin as calls mounted for Sullivan to release the full audio. Texas Rangers opened an investigation, interviewing Bonnen for four hours about what Sullivan alleged was a quid pro quo offer.