A Travis County judge has ruled that attorneys for the Transgender Education Network, known as TENT, can question the people behind mailers sent to students in thousands of Texas households. The mailers are now the subject of a criminal investigation and possible legal action. The ruling came days before the midterm elections.
Sarah Stogner, a Republican district attorney from West Texas, opened the criminal investigation. She said State Rep. Jeff Leach's requests for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to investigate the mailers had gone ignored. Stogner said she believes the intent was to affect elections, but she does not think any election law was violated under current statutes. She said she is investigating the matter as potential forgery because the mailers appear to come from organizations that did not send them.
TENT, which is named on the mailers, denied sending them and filed a petition in an Austin court to find out who is responsible. The judge granted that request. The mailers list a return address and sender name of Texas Transgender Student Union, which appears to be fake. That group was formed in September in Wyoming. Austin attorney Chris Hilton, who previously worked for Paxton, represents the Wyoming LLC and has appealed TENT's petition. In court documents, Hilton argued his client wants to keep its identity hidden and has a First Amendment right to do so.