December 19, 2014      5:29 PM
Ethics Commission will look into alleged misuse of corporate funds by Empower Texans
“The public subsidizes Empower Texans by granting it a tax-exemption, while it uses those tax-exempt funds to influence elections,” Bresnen said. “That is wrong—and illegal.”
The
Texas
Ethics Commission said this week that there will be a preliminary hearing
in February on alleged misuse of corporate funds in Texas elections by Midland
oilman Tim Dunn’s group Empower Texans. Dunn, as QR readers who have followed this are aware, is the
chairman of the group, which has a spokesman who was found by the Ethics
Commission to be guilty of lobbying without registering.
That
spokesman for Dunn, Michael Quinn
Sullivan, is appealing that finding in court.
Longtime
lobbyist Steve Bresnen, a former top
aide to Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, filed
this latest complaint against Empower Texans back in February. It centers on “the
use of the publicly-subsidized non-profit’s assets to raise money for a
political action committee,” which Bresnen said would be a “direct violation of
the Election
Code’s express prohibition against the practice.”
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