Texas
Related: About this forumHidalgo aide says Ogg is biased, should be removed from vaccine contract case
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is an amazing lady. In Texas, the County Judge is not a judicial office but is the chief executive officer of the County. I remember meeting Lina Hidalgo at a Harris County Democratic Lawyers Association meeting in 2018 and was very impressed with her but I was worried about her age. Lina Hidalgo was running against Ed Emmitt who was an old-line republican who most thought did a good job during the Hurricane Harvey mess. Lina beat Emmitt and has been doing a great job including adopting county wide election day voting and dealing with the COVID mess. In 2020, voter turnout in Harris County increased due to drive through voting, 24-hour voting and other innovations that the GOP has now outlawed because they work.
It is commonly believed that Lina is a rock star in Texas politics and will be headed to higher office which has old line types such as Harris County DA Kim Ogg worried. Kim Ogg has been a disappointment to many hard-core Democrats and it is clear that Kim Ogg is jealous of Lina Hidalgo.
Kim Ogg has indicted three aides to Lina including the son of a lawyer who I used to practice law with back when I was at the same firm as Greg Abbott. This matter is getting nasty and I support Alex Triantaphyllis who is a good lawyer despite having a patent attorney for his dad.
Link to tweet
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Hidalgo-aide-says-Ogg-is-biased-should-be-17212976.php
In the 36-page motion filed Wednesday, Triantaphyllis argued Ogg has engaged in a "months-long, highly public feud" with Hidalgo while demanding budget increases for her office, thereby failing to avoid the appearance or reality of a conflict of interest and warranting Ogg's disqualification and replacement with an "unbiased attorney" in her place.
Harris County District Attorney spokesperson John Donnelly said the office was reviewing the motion and had no immediate comment.
The next court date is set for June 16, Donnelly said.
Hidalgo and Ogg have exchanged heated words in recent weeks over the indictments. Hidalgo, who is up for reelection this November, argued Ogg's investigation is meant to derail her campaign.
The hard core democrats I know are backing Lina and are all upset with KIm Ogg including due to the fact that Kim Ogg has been briefing republicans like Ed Emmitt.
This will be an interesting fight to watch
cloudbase
(5,748 posts)winds up with a statewide office in the future. She's great.
LetMyPeopleVote
(154,549 posts)Sucha NastyWoman
(2,897 posts)LetMyPeopleVote
(154,549 posts)This fight is going to be nasty
Link to tweet
https://abc13.com/lina-hidalgo-indictment-harris-county-contract-steering-texas-scandal/11915829/?ex_cid=TA_KTRK_TW&taid=62984d3835dfdc00012d211e&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
In a court filing Wednesday, Triantaphyllis' attorneys claim Ogg acted after county commissioners didn't meet the DA's funding requests to "vastly expand the District Attorney's budget.".....
The motion cites a "months-long high public feud with Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo" over DA funding, and bail reform among others, claiming it motivated by politics.
"Despite claiming to be a Democrat, Ogg has aligned herself with her former Republican colleagues in retaliation against Judge Hidalgo. Ogg's unprofessional conduct violates a slew of prosecutorial ethical rules and norms, and wastes taxpayers' funds in the process," according to the filing.....
"The motion identifies key points that demonstrate this is a political exercise. As we've said, this case is without merit," Hidalgo's campaign spokesperson, Toni Harrison, said.