March 26, 2015 5:54 PM

Ethics Commission dismisses Texas Right to Life complaint against Deuell

Right to Life is “just trying to harass me at this point," the former senator tells Quorum Report

The Texas Ethics Commission has swiftly dismissed a sworn complaint filed by Texas Right to Life against former Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville. This comes as the group pursues a lawsuit against Deuell in Houston stemming from last year’s bitter GOP primary runoff in which he narrowly lost to Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood.

Deuell told Quorum Report that the ethics complaint has no merit, neither does the lawsuit, and “they’re just trying to harass me at this point.”

“We did everything by the book,” Deuell said.

The complaint filed by Jim Graham, executive director of one of the state’s three major pro-life organizations, says Deuell "failed to properly report political contributions from a specific-purpose political action committee (Friends of Bob Deuell) that were made on his behalf for legal bills incurred in defending Deuell in civil action filed against him in his individual capacity."

The civil lawsuit to which Graham was referring was filed against Deuell by Texas Right to Life after Deuell’s attorneys successfully convinced radio stations in Dallas/Fort Worth to pull down “slanderous” attack ads that aired during the GOP primary runoff.

By Scott Braddock