So as I predicted the fix was in for Dawnna Dukes, the long serving Democrat state representative from Austin who was facing a slew of felony and misdemeanor indictments for, among other things; paying legislative staff with our money to chauffer her child to and from school; converting over five-grand in campaign funds to personal use, and; converting taxpayer money to personal income by claiming the legislator per diem for days that she did not go to her office in the Capitol which was the heart of the felony indictments.
Dawnna Dukes
Dukes is a longtime member of the inner-Austin power clique. Irrespective of party, she is the type of legislator Austin-insiders work with to amass and hold power. And when we learned [more] that the House Business Office chief told investigators one thing about House rules but then went and secretly gave an ace to Dukes’ lawyers they could hold up their sleeves for trial, I knew the fix was in from the House-insider crowd, run by Speaker Joe Straus’ administration, to protect a member of the clique.
The Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore let Dukes off the serious misdemeanor charges without any punitive consequences, she was simply allowed to pay back salary money she paid out for the child transportation and “restore” to her campaign account the over five-grand she had used for personal items. The “ethics” fine she had to pay was for another issue, it was not a fine for committing misdemeanors.
Dukes knowingly broke the law while holding a position of public trust and yet didn’t even get a slap on the wrist, she got more of a Clintonesque do-over.
“Because the House Business Office did not enforce the House rule requiring travel to the Capitol…,” according to the district attorney.
Why did the felony charges go away?
The felony charges went away “Because the House Business Office did not enforce the House rule requiring travel to the Capitol…,” according to the district attorney. And yet in press interviews members from both parties said the rule was very clear that one must go to his Capitol office to claim the per-diem payment as income.
“The House Policy & Procedure Manual is clear: Lawmakers can claim the reimbursement up to 12 times per month if they travel “to Austin to attend to legislative duties in their office,” reported Austin American-Statesman’s Sean Collins Walsh.
Dukes’ issue, a specific case of one member, is not enough to claim the House did not generally enforce its rules so the question now is: Who else was claiming pay without showing up at the Capitol?
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Update: A good summary and note that the “high-ranking lawmaker” is one of Speaker Straus’ top henchmen: The implosion of the Dawnna Dukes corruption case, explained
Hummmm, I wonder.