October 10, 2017      5:35 PM

Calling Basel's claims frivolous, federal judge sends American Phoenix case back to state court

“All of the pleadings filed by Mr. Basel are wholly nonmeritorious, frivolous, meaningless, but do contain malicious and improper allegations with intentional slanderous content,” wrote Judge Sam Sparks

A clearly agitated Federal Judge Sam Sparks on Tuesday sent the case of American Phoenix Foundation founder Joe Basel back to state district court in Travis County. Agitated is Sparks’ default setting, by the way, as anyone whose paid a visit to his courtroom knows.

Sparks also said Basel must not be allowed to file anything in federal court about this case without the permission of a federal judge.

Basel, who organized the secret filming of lawmakers, lobbyists, staffers and others during the 2015 session of The Legislature, is in contempt of court for failing to reveal records about the defunct group’s finances including all of its contributors.

By Scott Braddock

Copyright October 10, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved