In 2014, and following a two-year investigation, the Texas Ethics Commission fined Sullivan $10,000 for failing to register as a lobbyist.
Robert Downen
Robert Downen was a reporter covering democracy and the threats to it, including extremism, disinformation and conspiracies. Before joining the Tribune in 2022, he worked for five years at the Houston Chronicle. As a Hearst Media fellow, he developed what would become "Abuse of Faith," a landmark investigation into child sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention that prompted a Department of Justice investigation. Before coming to Texas, Robert was a business reporter in New York's capital region and the managing editor of six newspapers in his home state of Illinois. He is a 2014 graduate of Eastern Illinois University.
Posted in
2024 Texas Elections
Amid white supremacist scandal, far-right billionaire powerbrokers see historic election gains in Texas
All told, 11 of the 28 House candidates supported by Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks won their primaries outright, and another eight are headed to runoffs this May.
Posted in
2024 Texas Elections
Texas Supreme Court Justice John Devine narrowly survives heated primary centered on judicial ethics
Devine will face 281st District Judge Christine Vinh Weems in November’s general election.
Posted in
2024 Texas Elections
Houston Rep. Lacey Hull defeats Paxton-backed Jared Woodfill in GOP primary
Woodfill’s endorsement by Paxton was decried by some Republicans because of his close ties to Southern Baptist leader Paul Pressler, who has been accused multiple times of sexual abuse.
Posted in
2024 Texas Elections
In leaked audio, Supreme Court Justice John Devine railed against “brainwashed” GOP colleagues
Devine, a former anti-abortion activist, faces a heated primary challenge that has focused on questions about his ethics.
Posted in
2024 Texas Elections
Despite ties to defendants, Texas Supreme Court justice didn’t recuse himself from sex abuse case
Two decades ago, John Devine worked with the law firm of Paul Pressler and Jared Woodfill, later defendants in a Southern Baptist abuse case.
Posted in
Politics
Texas GOP leaders reverse course, ban antisemites from party
The party’s executive committee also formally censured House Speaker Dade Phelan on Saturday.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Federal investigators asked to reopen fraud case against Texas House candidate Jared Woodfill
Woodfill’s former client fears that politics played a role in the case, which she said was mishandled and abruptly closed by the Harris County DA’s office.
Posted in
Politics
Email sheds new light on Texas House candidate Jared Woodfill’s role in Southern Baptist leader’s sex abuse scandal
Woodfill has been endorsed by Attorney General Ken Paxton despite his connection to Paul Pressler, a prominent religious figure accused of rape.
Posted in
Politics
Defend Texas Liberty promised big primary spending. Then its leader met with an Adolf Hitler fan.
The Defend Texas Liberty PAC gave just $10,000 in the last two months of 2023 and received no new money from its billionaire funders.
