HOUSTON – KPRC 2 has reached out to Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, her office, and commissioners for comment but has yet to hear back.
Texas Rangers have opened a new public corruption investigation after Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s Office “concealed” records subpoenaed in a Grand Jury’s review of how a multi-million dollar county contract was awarded, according to search warrants unsealed Thursday.
“This is essentially the sequel to the original investigation that culminated in indictments of three members of Judge Hidalgo’s staff,” KPRC 2 Legal Analyst Brian Wice said. “These allegations are serious. The search warrant itself is focused on the third-degree felony of tampering with evidence.”
The records subpoenaed are related to the 2022 investigation into the nearly $11 million COVID-19 outreach contract awarded to a local woman’s LLC and why she was selected.
RELATED: Judge Lina Hidalgo’s lawyer claims investigation is a misunderstanding
A grand jury indicted Alex Triantaphyllis, Aaron Dunn, and Wallis Nader, three of Hidalgo’s staffers, in 2022.
According to previous search warrants, investigators were looking for any communications or files that may show they disclosed non-public information to Felicity Pereyra, who founded Elevate Strategies.
Now, a new search warrant shows Texas Rangers are looking into whether there was tampering with evidence during the investigation into those claims.
RELATED: New search warrant requests Google Docs in probe involving Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, team
Texas Ranger Daron Parker wrote in the search warrant that “it was discovered that numerous documents and communications that were ordered to be produced by Grand Jury subpoena had been concealed and made unavailable during the earlier Grand Jury proceedings.”
The “concealed evidence” included the following:
- Harris County Judge’s office employees used their personal phones to communicate about the Targeted Community Vaccine Outreach project with the owner of Elevate Strategies; and,
- Draft documents showing Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo personally edited the scope of the Targeted Vaccine Outreach project and mentioned the owner of Elevate Strategies LLC in her editing one day before the scope of work was shared with the owner of Elevate Strategies LLC and more than two weeks before the project was publically announced; and
- WhatsApp and SMS messages showing Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and her staff believed that the majority of the Harris County Commissioners Court were going to vote against funding the Targeted Community Vaccine Outreach project and used the County Judge’s Emergency Authorization powers to bypass the voting process and award $10,973,00 to Elevate; and
- WhatsApp messages had been deleted after the initiation of the Grand Jury investigation.
“Given the four corners of the affidavit and the warrant, it would appear to be a reasonable deduction that Judge Hidalgo’s DNA is now in play in this investigation,” Wice said.
The COVID-19 Outreach Contract
According to search warrants, investigators were looking for any communications or files that may show they disclosed non-public information to Felicity Pereyra, who founded Elevate Strategies.
The county awarded Elevate Strategies the multi-million dollar contract. However, it was revoked last fall after questions surfaced about how it was awarded.
In previous statements, Hidalgo has stated she is standing by her staffers.
“Since the State of Texas disbanded the Public Integrity Unit, which was housed at Travis County District Attorney’s Office, the responsibility for such work has landed exclusively with district attorneys across the state,” said Dane Schiller, spokesman for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. “Prosecutors presented the evidence to a Harris County grand jury, which determined there was sufficient evidence for criminal charges. We will follow the evidence wherever it leads and apply the law equally to all; our work continues,” a statement released Monday from the judge’s office read.
Hidalgo released another statement.
“News reports have already shown that recent accusations suffer from a serious lack of understanding of the facts. My team will remain on my staff and continue to make meaningful positive changes on behalf of the people of Harris County. It’s no coincidence that these unfair allegations are being leveled against them in the middle of an election year,” the statement read.