(The Center Square) – Gov. Greg Abbott is again requesting the Texas Supreme Court remove state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, from office.
Last August, Wu led a group of 53 House Democrats to abscond from Austin to prevent the Texas House, and state legislature, from conducting business for two weeks during a special session called by the governor. In response, Abbott filed an emergency petition with the Texas Supreme Court to have Wu, who chairs the Texas Democratic Caucus, removed from office, The Center Square reported.
The petition cites Chapter 66 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code arguing Wu abdicated his position, The Center Square reported. When the governor calls a special session, the Texas Constitution “provides that the ‘Legislature shall meet.’ TEX. CONST. art. III, § 5,” Abbott said. “It’s not optional. It’s a duty. The absconded Democrat House members were elected to meet and vote on legislation – not to prevent votes that may not go their way.”
More than two dozen House Democrats fled to Chicago with Wu, holding press conferences with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker in opposition to Texas redistricting efforts. Others fled to California, New York and Washington, D.C.
Abbott also said at the time that House Democrats “may also have committed felonies” by “soliciting funds to evade the fines they will incur under House rules. Any Democrat who ‘solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept’ such funds to assist in the violation of legislative duties or for purposes of skipping a vote may have violated bribery laws,” he said, citing Texas penal code, The Center Square reported.
House Democrats eventually returned, the redistricting bill passed and became law and Abbott’s petition to remove Wu remained before the Texas Supreme Court.
The Texas House initially fined 53 absconding Democrats nearly $10,000 each. This was recently adjusted to $8,354 per absconding member, totaling nearly $423,000, The Center Square reported.
House rules prohibit members from using campaign funds to pay the fines. Despite this, Wu encouraged members of the public to donate to the House Democratic Caucus Campaign to help pay them. He also said at the hearing, “State law says any cost of a political process, a political cost of your office, can be reimbursed by campaign. State law trumps the House rules, period, right? There’s no mincing words about that. It’s just flat out, that’s the law.”
In response, Abbott’s General Counsel Trevor Ezell sent a letter to the Texas Supreme Court making the governor’s case for Wu’s removal. He points to the Texas House finding Wu liable for breaking quorum and imposing monetary fines and Wu responding by raising money on social media to pay for the fine.
Ezel says first Wu “argued that only the Legislature could compel or expel him, even though he fled its jurisdiction. Now, Wu says the Legislature can punish him with a fine – tacitly conceding he did not have a constitutional right to flee but that he will have someone else pay for it.”
He also argues “Wu not only accepted bribes in exchange for breaking quorum. He not only pocketed around $2 million to make good on his promise to ‘kill’ an entire session.
“But he is now fundraising off the punishment for the quorum break. In a statement for the caucus he led before abandoning his office — and even after House members found what they did was sanctionable wrongdoing — Wu insists ‘we would make that same decision again.’ This Court must ensure he cannot.”
The governor maintains that Wu abdicated the remainder of his term and should be removed from office. If he were removed, nothing prevents Wu from running for office again in November.
In response, Wu said he doesn’t answer to the governor but to his voters who he says opposed the redistricting effort. He and other absconding House Democrats have argued it was their constitutional right to deny quorum and halt state legislative business. Wu also said he will “continue to fight [Gov]. Greg Abbott’s bogus lawsuit.”
