Lawmakers to Investigate Claim of Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen's Quid Pro Quo Offer to Activist Group

AUSTIN -- A panel of state lawmakers on Monday will begin investigating allegations of impropriety during a June 12 meeting between House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, Republican Caucus Chairman Dustin Burrows and conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan. That meeting has mired Bonnen, Burrows and the entire Republican Party in controversy after Sullivan alleged he was offered a quid pro quo at the meeting. In late July, Sullivan wrote in a blog post that Bonnen offered writers for his website, Texas Scorecard, media credentials in the next legislative session. The credentials would be awarded if his affiliated political action committee, Empower Texans, refrained from criticizing the session, did not spend money on some Republican incumbents and went after a group of 10 GOP incumbents, Sullivan wrote.The allegation that Bonnen targeted 10 fellow Republicans went directly against a pronouncement he made at the end of the legislative session that any incumbent who campaigned against another sitting member of the House would be punished. Bonnen denied the allegations and said he asked Burrows, who has yet to publicly comment on the matter, to stay quiet.   Continue reading...