INSIDER
The former lawmaker registered “RaTmasTeR Holdings” along with Texas GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi. The name is a nod to Stickland’s alias as an infamous internet troll.
Straus, who is Jewish, publicly confirmed the conversation for the first time Thursday. It had previously been reported by Texas Monthly.
The Defend Texas Liberty PAC gave just $10,000 in the last two months of 2023 and received no new money from its billionaire funders.
In his teens and his 20s, Stickland was a prolific internet troll. But instead of growing out of it, he would make a career of it — ascending to the role of a conservative Texas powerbroker, before taking heat for hosting a meeting with white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
In a Nov. 13 filing with the Texas Secretary of State, an attorney for Pale Horse Strategies LLC wrote that the firm would also conduct future business under the name “West Fort Worth Management LLC.”
Some members of the committee said such a ban, proposed two months after a prominent conservative activist was caught meeting with a famous white supremacist, might be a “slippery slope” or too vague.
Matt Rinaldi has been defiant amid calls for him to cut ties with political ally Jonathan Stickland after meeting with white supremacist Nick Fuentes. Rinaldi is also accused of embracing antisemitic leaders of a new young Republicans organization.
While Fuentes’ unapologetic hate mongering has made him one of the nation’s best-known white supremacists, he was merely the latest in a long line of people who have been embraced by Defend Texas Liberty and its close allies.
Luke Macias, a longtime conservative political consultant, is listed as the new president of the conservative PAC on its website. Jonathan Stickland, the former president, met with Fuentes for nearly seven hours.
The group has funded candidates and groups like the Texas GOP who have pushed fellow Republicans to take a harder line against things like illegal immigration and transgender people.
Two other Republican lawmakers are giving away donations after Nick Fuentes was seen visiting the office building associated with Defend Texas Liberty PAC President Jonathan Stickland. The meeting has roiled the party, leading to many Republicans calling on their peers to return money from the PAC.
Fuentes often praises Adolf Hitler and has publicly fantasized about marrying a 16-year-old. Last week, he visited the office of a Texas operative who runs a deep-pocketed political group.
House Speaker Dade Phelan called on Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other officials to redirect any money they received from the PAC. Patrick called on Phelan to resign.
The Texas Tribune also observed Texas GOP chair Matt Rinaldi outside the building, but he denied meeting Fuentes and denounced him.
With the attorney general’s impeachment trial set for September, supporters have risen to Paxton’s defense, fueled by the deep pockets of oil-rich West Texas donors.
The pricey fights illustrate how much of the action in Texas politics has shifted back to the primary after redistricting dramatically reduced the number of competitive seats.
