Breitbart Texas Will Not Publish Lawmaker Videos
![Joe Basel, the president and chief executive of the American Phoenix Foundation, is shown in the Texas House lobby on May 26, 2015.](https://thumbnails.texastribune.org/LPZ7FYiEzyPTE_l7Ewyx-oKRsS4=/850x570/smart/filters:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/05/26/JoeBasel5-26.jpg)
*Editor's note: This story has been updated with comment from Joe Basel, president and chief executive of the American Phoenix Foundation.
Undercover video of Texas lawmakers made by the American Phoenix Foundation will not be published by Breitbart Texas after the legislative session ends, according to the conservative news organization's managing director, Brandon Darby.
"At this time, I am not publishing it, correct," Darby told The Texas Tribune on Tuesday.
Darby did not elaborate on why he has changed his mind about the supposed 836 hours of video the American Phoenix group has been made of lawmakers since the group began filming in and around the Texas Capitol last December.
Two weeks ago, Darby told the Tribune that Breitbart had a copy of the video footage and had planned to publish it after the legislative session ends on June 1.
"Some of it is very newsworthy,” Darby had said this month.
Asked Tuesday if he stood still by that assessment, Darby said: "I really think my initial description still stands. But I think it's best for them to talk about their own footage."
Joe Basel, president and chief executive of American Phoenix, said the door isn't closed on having Breitbart Texas publish the video.
"They’re certainly welcome to it," Basel said. "But there’s a lot of people asking for it, including national partners."
Basel said he's viewed less than 1 percent of the video his organization has recorded so far and insists it's more than newsworthy.
"I think a lot of people will re-evaluate their career in public service after this," Basel said.
American Phoenix, which formed in 2010, has received major donations from conservative sources, including the Strake Foundation, the State Policy Network, the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity and Jeff Sandefer's Ed Foundation.
Members of the group's leadership have told the Tribune that their project is an attempt to bring more transparency about lawmakers and to prove moral and political hypocrisy committed by some through votes or relationships forced with certain lobbyists. The group has also hinted it has documented personal relationships that could prove embarrassing for lawmakers.
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