Texas Scorecard By Matt Rinaldi 10/17/2019
Commentary: Is the Bribery Provision of the Texas Constitution the Biggest Legal Threat to Bonnen?The analysis of the audio recording shouldn’t be focused solely on legal issues.The audio recording of Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen’s infamous meeting with Empower Texans CEO Michael Quinn Sullivan may have established that Bonnen acted illegally.
It all depends on which laws you consider.
While the Texas Rangers are conducting an investigation to collect evidence, they are not a prosecutorial agency. Those responsibilities are left to district attorneys, the attorney general, in the case of civil removal proceedings, and even legislators themselves, in instances affecting the qualifications of its members.
The media has thus far focused on the Texas Penal Code’s bribery statute, which is narrow in scope. In order to establish a violation, an elected official must solicit a “benefit,†which is narrowly defined as “pecuniary gain.â€
In criminal law, “pecuniary†refers to any monetary or economic gain that serves as an impetus for the commission of an offense. To argue this happened here is likely a stretch, even though Bonnen did ask Sullivan not to provide financial support to any candidate who may challenge Bonnen.
Setting aside the penal code, there is an applicable provision in Texas law that virtually every media outlet has either missed or ignored. The Texas Constitution has an extremely broad definition of “bribery†that, despite some poorly reasoned legal arguments to the contrary regarding its application, is very clearly drafted to encompass a far greater range of conduct than the criminal statute. It is also by law not within the statutory scope of the Texas Rangers’ investigation.
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/commentary/commentary-is-the-bribery-provision-of-the-texas-constitution-the-biggest-legal-threat-to-bonnen/
