Hidalgo declines to fully address criminal inquiry into COVID contract: 'I followed the law'

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo addressed lingering questions over a COVID outreach contract for the first time on Tuesday — saying she has brought transparency to county government, then immediately demurring from talking specifics about an ongoing criminal inquiry that led to a search of county offices. “I know there are a lot of allegations swirling around and I’d love to respond to them, but I cannot,” Hidalgo said in a brief press conference, during a break in the commissioners’ court agenda. “What I can say is this, I followed the law,” she said later, repeatedly declining to offer specifics in the case, citing conversations with criminal defense lawyers she hired after a March 11 search conducted by the Texas Rangers in the Harris County Administration Building in downtown Houston.

No criminal charges have been filed related to the $11 million contract with Elevate Strategies, approved one year ago and abandoned months later, after questions about the procurement dogged Hidalgo’s office. In search warrant affidavits released last week, investigators said three employees of Hidalgo’s office — chief of staff Alex Triantaphyllis, policy director Wallis Nader and former senior adviser Aaron Dunn — communicated with Elevate Strategies founder Felicity Pereyra prior to Elevate winning a contract for a proposed vaccine campaign. The information listed in the court records details numerous conversations between Pereyra and Hidalgo’s office about the structure and focus of the pending contract — prior to its issuance to Elevate. Critics of Hidalgo have said for months the contract irresponsibly favored Elevate — a one-person firm with ties to Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia and other Democrats. Pereyra worked on Garcia’s 2015 mayoral campaign, and is active in various political groups. While declining to offer specifics about the criminal inquiry, Hidalgo reiterated that her efforts were focused on setting up a way to encourage COVID vaccinations in communities where prior outreach efforts failed. “I believe the decisions my team made were based on fighting COVID-19,” Hidalgo said. Hidalgo, who is up for re-election in November, suggested politics are playing a role in the current fracas. “It is the political season,” she said. “I am battle tested and I am not deterred.”