Greg Abbott sends Battleground Texas complaint to Bexar County DA

[TexasTowelie]

Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office Friday recused itself from investigating complaints that voluntary deputy registrars affiliated with the Democratic group Battleground Texas might have violated the state election code by copying phone numbers off voter registration applications for future political use.

The complaints originally were filed with the secretary of state’s office in the wake of a Project Veritas undercover video, released Wednesday, of a Battleground Texas organizer in San Antonio describing the practice of copying down the phone numbers. The secretary of state’s office is not an investigative or enforcement agency, and the complaints were passed on to Abbott’s office. But Abbott, who is seeking his party’s nomination for governor, is likely to face Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, whose campaign is entwined with Battleground Texas, in the general election. So the attorney general recused himself, passing the matter on to the district attorney in Bexar County, where the alleged skirting of the election law took place.

-snip-

Amid howls of outrage from Republican officials, a D.C.-based spokesman for Battleground Texas — founded a year ago by alumni of the Obama presidential campaign to help turn Texas blue — defended the group as operating “in full compliance with the law” and said it was the victim of “inaccurate and misleading assertions by Republicans directed at one thing — making sure fewer Texans vote.”

“The allegations are based on footage by admitted criminal James O’Keefe whose partisan Republican antics of doctoring videos are well known,” the spokesman, Ellis Brachman, said. “Those associating themselves with him, making claims of fraud and using his rhetoric for their political gain should be ashamed of themselves. What is undoubtedly true is that if Republicans are willing to stoop to such transparent tactics then they are terrified of the prospect of more Texans going to the ballot box.”

“In the next few days we will send a more detailed response exposing these claims as utterly without foundation in Texas law,” Brachman said.

More at http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/greg-abbott-sends-battleground-texas-complaint-to-/ndYBG/ (subscription required).

[DhhD]

1. The Republican Party of Texas Outs Itself with Criminals and Pedophiles as a part of its,

Wrong Thinking Culture and Ethics.

[Gothmog]

2. Greg Abbott is too stupid to know that he has already opined on this issue

Battleground has responded to the claims of O'Keefe and they have cited an opinion that came from Abbott's office. Here is the letter from the lawyers for Battleground on this issue https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxeOfQQnUr_gcGVSQURDelZSXzg/edit?pli=1 The same firm that represents President Obama is representing Battleground. This response is well done. Here is a link to one of the opinions from Greg Abbott that is cited in this letter https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/openrecords/50abbott/orl/2010/htm/or201008083.htm

You also argue the voters' telephone numbers and dates of birth are excepted from disclosure, and highlight language in sections 13.004(a) and 13.004(d) of the Election Code. However, for information to be confidential under section 552.101, the provision of law must explicitly require confidentiality. A confidentiality requirement will not be inferred from a provision's structure. See Open Records Decision Nos. 658 at 4 (1998) (stating that statutory confidentiality provision must be express and confidentiality requirement will not be implied from statutory structure), 478 at 2 (1987) (stating that, as general rule, statutory confidentiality requires express language making information confidential), 465 at 4-5 (1987). Section 13.004(a) prohibits the county from transcribing, copying, or recording a voter's telephone number. See Elec. Code § 13.004(a). Section 13.004(d) prohibits the posting of certain specified information on a website. See id. § 13.004(d). Because neither section 13.004(a) or section 13.004(d) explicitly provides that information is confidential, we find that the county may not withhold the telephone numbers and birth dates of voters from the requestor under section 552.101 of the Government Code in conjunction with section 13.004 of the Election Code.

Again, Attorney General Abbott has issued clear opinions on this issue and it is clear that Battleground is not violating any law and that O'Keefe is lying. I am amused that Greg Abbott did not know he had opined on this issue already.