House Democrats call for Michael Quinn Sullivan to release secret Dennis Bonnen recording

[TexasTowelie]

by Cassandra Pollock, Texas Tribune


Texas House Democrats are joining calls for a hardline conservative activist to release the entire recording of his meeting with Speaker Dennis Bonnen — which could clear up allegations that Bonnen planned to politically target fellow Republicans.

“House Democrats agree with the Speaker and others that the recording should be released in its entirety,” state Rep. Chris Turner, a Grand Prairie Democrat who chairs the caucus, said in a statement Friday. “Complete transparency is paramount; allowing select political insiders to hear it in private isn’t going to cut it.”

Last week, Michael Quinn Sullivan accused Bonnen, a Republican, and one of his top lieutenants of offering Sullivan’s group media access to the lower chamber if his organization Empower Texans politically targeted 10 GOP members in the 2020 primaries. Bonnen left the room during a June 12 meeting, Sullivan said, and state Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock Republican who chairs the House GOP Caucus, listed off the 10 members.

Sullivan later revealed he had secretly recorded the meeting, and said he would allow certain Republicans to listen to it. He has not publicly released the recording.

Bonnen has repeatedly given a different account of the meeting — and has called on Sullivan to release his entire recording. Burrows has not publicly responded since Sullivan first made his allegations.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/08/02/texas-democrats-call-michael-quinn-sullivan-release-bonnen-tape/

[Gothmog]

1. A lawsuit has been filed to force the release of the tape

This will be fun to watch https://mailchi.mp/eb665291c2ae/michael-quinn-sullivan-named-in-lawsuit-alleging-illegal-campaign-negotiations-with-texas-house-speaker?e=88f3e58ec1

Earlier today, a lawsuit was filed alleging that negotiations during a meeting between Empower Texans’ Director Michael Quinn Sullivan with Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen and Republican Caucus Chairman Dustin Burrows violated Texas election laws against campaign activity without proper organization and disclosure by the parties involved. The lawsuit is essential to prevent Sullivan from destroying a voice recording he secretly made during his discussions with Bonnen and Burrows.

Over the last several weeks, Michael Quinn Sullivan has used leaked accounts of a secret recording he made during a private meeting with Bonnen and Burrows in June to publicly pressure and leverage Dennis Bonnen. Sullivan claims that Bonnen asked him to target specific Republican and Democratic State House members for defeat in exchange for granting Empower Texans State House press credentials, which had been denied during the 2019 Legislative Session. Bonnen denies the alleged “quid pro quo” but acknowledges that he defamed and used derogatory terms when discussing several of his House colleagues.

The suit was filed by the Texas Democratic Party and State Representative Ana Maria Ramos (HD104 – Dallas). Both the Party and Representative Ramos have legal standing in the matter.

Here is a link to the petition filed by Chad Dunn https://www.texasdemocrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/TDP_Ramos_v_Sullivan.pdf

[Gothmog]

2. From my twitter feed

Link to tweet