On Being Dirty
According to the Fort Bend County District Attorney filings, it didn’t take long for Fort Bend County Judge K.P. George to turn dirty – heck, just one month into taking office. See this from the Chron:
Prosecutors detailed new allegations this week against Fort Bend County Judge K.P. George, accusing him of underreporting tens of thousands of dollars in campaign funds, transferring the money into personal accounts and using it to pay his property taxes and help purchase a home.
The accusations are laid out in a state’s motion filed by Assistant District Attorney Charann Thompson, responding to George’s motion to dismiss his felony indictment on money laundering charges.
Thompson’s response, filed Aug. 13 in 458th District Court, asserts that George concealed the campaign funds and converted them for personal use through a money laundering scheme.
According to the state’s filing, George’s Jan. 14, 2019 campaign finance report, covering the weeks after his November 2018 election victory, showed just $399 in the bank. In reality, prosecutors allege in the filing, his campaign account held $37,128.94.
Two weeks later, the filing states, George allegedly transferred $30,000 from the campaign account into his personal bank account. On March 19, 2019 he allegedly moved another $16,500.
Prosecutors say the funds were used to pay George’s personal property taxes and applied toward a down payment on a new house in Richmond, which closed April 22, 2019.
The transactions, prosecutors allege, were omitted from subsequent campaign finance reports, effectively concealing both the original balance and the transfers, according to the State’s motion.
In one case, the alleged offense is tampering with a governmental record in the form of a campaign finance report. George omitted more than $30,000 in contributions, the state’s motion alleges.
Prosecutors in the filing state that knowingly making a false entry with intent to defraud converted the hidden funds into “proceeds of an illicit act.”
In the second case, George stands accused of federal wire fraud.
The state contends George solicited and accepted thousands in campaign donations under false pretenses, then used $46,500 of those funds for “personal enrichment.”
Prosecutors allege he commingled the proceeds with other funds, withdrew them as a cashier’s check, and used it toward the home purchase: a series of transactions they say in the filing meets at least three of the four statutory ways to commit money laundering.
Here is the entire Chron read: KP George used campaign funds for taxes, house down payment, DA says.
Commentary is very familiar with the filing of campaign contributions and expenditures reports. These are official document filings that are required by state law. Political campaign contributions and expenditures must be accurately reported.
If the Fort Bend County DA’s filing is in fact true, you have to wonder what Judge George was thinking. I will say this, enforcing campaign reporting violations in Texas is lax. You pretty much need a law enforcement agency like a DA’s office to subpoena banking account records to figure out if an officeholder or candidate is being honest. It looks like this happened in Judge George’s case. Dumbsh_t for sure.
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Another MAGA moron has surfaced. MAGA Texas State Representative Dennis Paul wants to put the Harris County Flood Control District under state control. See this from the Chron:
Paul proposed placing the district and its projects under a five-member board — four appointed by the governor, and a fifth by Harris County Commissioners Court. His bill lays out a process in which a referendum could expand the district’s purview to neighboring counties as well.
“Flooding doesn’t stop at political lines,” Paul wrote in a post on the social media platform X after he filed his bill Aug. 1. He said the move was an effort to increase “accountability and cooperation.”
The Harris County Flood Control District is under the control of the Harris County Commissioners Court. Under Rep. Paul’s proposal, the Flood Control District would be politicized by letting an arsehole who lives in Austin appoint his donors and cronies to this critical local entity. Talk about politicization. This isn’t accountability. What a moron.
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Conan Gray put on a concert on the “Today” plaza this morning and it looked like his band was entirely made up of female musicians. See the featured photo. Cool.
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41 games remain. 19 at Daikin Park and 22 roadies. We have a game and a half lead over the Mariners in the AL West. This is Billy Wagner Weekend at Daikin Park. His number 13 jersey will be given away this evening. His number 13 will be retired tomorrow and his bobblehead will be given away as well. The Orioles are in town this weekend.