Texas Organizing Project Accused of Quid Pro Quo to Help Favorable Bexar County Officials

 

A bail reform group bonding out hundreds of criminal defendants from the Bexar County jail, then paying some of them to do campaign work for candidates, including the district attorney whose office is prosecuting them.

Trouble Shooter Jaie Avila obtained a recorded phone call that may show a conflict in the hard-fought race for D.A.

On the recording you hear two representatives of a group called Texas Organizing Project, or TOP, talking to a man they think is an inmate they recently bailed out and asking him to do door-to-door canvassing for $20 an hour.

Earlier this year we showed you how TOP receives cooperation from Bexar County in bailing out hundreds of inmates from the jail.

The bail reform group claims they are low level offenders, but our reports showed they've put repeat offenders with violent histories back on the street.

On the recorded phone call, Laquita Garcia, Statewide Policy Coordinator with TOP, and another staffer named Greg Williams, are talking to a man they believe is an inmate they just bailed out of the Bexar County jail. It's actually a person with ties to the bail bond industry impersonating the inmate.

Williams is heard instructing the caller, “We have certain asks of people that we bail out."

When the caller responds he does not have a car, Williams continues, “No, that's fine. The certain ask is, this is getting into election time, and we have people out here canvassing for us that we bailed out, they're making twenty dollars an hour.”

Even though Laquita Garcia was also on the call, TOP told us, “During a recent call, a new staff member misspoke regarding paid canvassing opportunities. Immediately after the incident, a senior community bail fund staff member counseled the employee that the information provided was inaccurate.”

The statement also says, “TOP unequivocally condemns the practice of quid pro quo, full stop."

TOP has performed canvassing for a number of candidates including Rochelle Garza who is running for state attorney general, and Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar in 2020.

Campaign finance reports show Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales gave Texas Organizing Project a $5,000 contribution in late August. In September TOP performed $27,702 worth of canvassing for Gonzales.

Four years ago, top did $76,710 worth of campaign work for Gonzales, when he ran on the issue of bail reform. There's no indication Gonzales coordinated with TOP on the canvassing activity.

In May, Gonzales told me he has nothing to do with top's bailouts, but he declined our interview request this time. Instead, we were asked to play the phone call for campaign staff members after which they sent a statement.

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