HOUSTON – An attorney and a doctor representing a Houston-based group that paid a former police captain accused of assault had little to say Wednesday about the person being charged.
Mark Aguirre, 63, was arrested Tuesday and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the Oct. 19 incident.
Prosecutors have accused Aguirre of ramming an A/C repairman’s truck off the road and then holding the driver at gunpoint because he believed the truck contained 750,000 fraudulent ballots. It turned out the truck only contained air conditioning parts, prosecutors said.
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According to court documents, Aguirre was paid a total of $266,400 by the Houston-based Liberty Center for God and Country, with $211,400 of that amount being deposited into his account the day after the incident.
Attorney Jared Woodfill and Dr. Steven Hotze, of Liberty Center, held a news conference Wednesday to answer questions.
Hotze confirmed that Aguirre was paid as a contract investigator to look into allegations of election fraud in Harris County. Hotze said he had used Aguirre as a private investigator in the past and that he had come highly recommended.
Hotze described the charge against Aguirre as “bogus” and said he hasn’t spoken to Aguirre since he was charged.
“That gentleman was charged two months after an incident, which raises, or should raise, a real flag with everyone in the press,” Hotze said, after saying himself that “the wheels of justice grind very slowly.”
If convicted, Aguirre could face up to 20 years in prison.