The Texas Supreme Court blocked a court deposition on Friday that was meant to help identify who is behind fake transgender student brochures and text messages sent to Texas families. The deposition was part of a legal effort by the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT), a real Texas advocacy group whose name appeared on the brochures. TENT's attorney, Mimi Marziani, said the newly registered Texas Transgender Student Union LLC asked the court to stop it. The court granted the emergency request about 15 minutes before the deposition was set to begin.
At a Friday media briefing, Marziani said new court information linked two names to the text message campaign: the Republican Women Caucus Fund and a person named John Braun. A Washington state senator and congressional candidate has the same name. Marziani said the Republican Women Caucus Fund and Braun have both denied involvement. She also said there is no other evidence from the court proceedings that the person named is the senator. She stressed that the information relates to the text messages, not the brochures.
Marziani said the Texas Transgender Student Union LLC has admitted responsibility for the brochures, but there is still no direct evidence connecting that group to the text messages. TENT said it had nothing to do with the materials and is working to identify who is using its name. A criminal investigation is also underway, according to the report.