Burnt Orange Report

TRMPAC in More Trouble

By Byron LaMasters

2002 Attorney General candidate Kirk Watson and 2002 State Rep. candidate Mike Head have filed a lawsuit against "Law Enforcement Alliance of America, based in Falls Church, Va.; its undisclosed corporate donors; "John Doe conspirators" who assisted in the ad campaigns; and John Colyandro, the former executive director of Texans for a Republican Majority". The Austin American Statesman reports:

In a new assault on corporate spending in politics, former Texas attorney general candidate Kirk Watson on Monday sued an out-of-state group to unearth the identity of the corporations he said secretly financed illegal campaign ads.

Watson and East Texas legislative candidate Mike Head, both Democrats, filed the lawsuit in Travis County district court against the Law Enforcement Alliance of America, based in Falls Church, Va.; its undisclosed corporate donors; "John Doe conspirators" who assisted in the ad campaigns; and John Colyandro, the former executive director of Texans for a Republican Majority, who also advised Watson's opponent, Greg Abbott, during the 2002 elections.

The lawsuit, opening another front in the escalating campaign finance controversy, says corporate-financed advertising tainted the 2002 elections and says that the alliance violated Texas law by not disclosing its donors. State law generally prohibits corporate or labor money from being spent on political expenditures.

[...]

The alliance spent an estimated $1.5 million on a TV commercial aired around the state in the final days of the 2002 campaign. The commercial attacked Watson as a personal injury trial lawyer who "made millions suing doctors, hospitals and small businesses."

Watson served as Austin mayor from 1997 to 2001.

Abbott, a Republican and the eventual winner in 2002, was praised in the spot for believing in "common-sense lawsuit reform."

The law enforcement group, according to Colyandro's deposition in another lawsuit, also distributed some of the mail pieces created by the Texas Association of Business. The state's largest business group spent $1.9 million in money from undisclosed corporate sources to mail information to voters in several legislative races around the state.

The postcard about Head, a criminal defense lawyer, states that he is "on the side of convicted baby killers and murderers" and questions whether such lawyers should be writing state laws.

The lawsuit follows in the wake of last week's 32 criminal indictments against Colyandro, two other lieutenants of U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and eight corporations accused of making or accepting illegal donations during the 2002 elections.

That "common-sense lawsuit reform fellow" - Greg Abbott, by the way, won a multi-million dollar settlement years ago because a tree fell on him, or something like that. However, now he's a champion for tort reform. Hmmm... gotta love how Republicans think sometimes.