Bonnen's reckoning

As he was wrapping up a more than hourlong June 12 meeting at House Speaker Dennis Bonnen's Capitol office, Michael Quinn Sullivan, an Eagle Scout and scoutmaster, told Bonnen that he was going to the Philmont Scout Ranch, a wilderness camping preserve in New Mexico's Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Bonnen — a Republican from Lake Jackson, who scarcely more than two weeks earlier had told reporters on the final day of this year's legislative session that Sullivan and his conservative group Empower Texans were unworthy of respect or attention — told Sullivan that his in-laws had a place in Red River, near Philmont, if he wanted to stay there a night or two on his way up or back.

"This is not a hollow offer," Bonnen assured Sullivan.

What Bonnen didn't know is that his erstwhile archenemy, the Eagle Scout, was surreptitiously recording the gracious offer, and every minute of the meeting, which also included House Republican Caucus Chairman Dustin Burrows of Lubbock. During the meeting, Bonnen made another offer to Sullivan, according to Sullivan and several people who have heard the audio recording, that made Bonnen's lofty end-of-session rhetoric about the imperative of defending the seat of every Republican incumbent from a primary challenge ring hollow.

That, and his slow, inadequate response to the revelations, have left him looking at once arrogant, naive, outmaneuvered and inept and may have put his so recently lionized speakership in peril heading into a momentous election cycle.

On July 25, Sullivan posted on his organization's Texas Scorecard site that, during the meeting, Bonnen had said "he would ensure Texas Scorecard reporters received House floor access in 2021 if we would lay off our criticism of the legislative session, not spend money from our affiliated PACs against certain Republicans, and — most shockingly — go after a list of other Republicans in the 2020 primary elections." Burrows gave Sullivan the names of 10 GOP House members to oppose, according to Sullivan.

Sullivan said he rejected that deal.

Empower Texans is fighting in court the decision by the House, unlike the Senate, to deny the Scorecard media credentials, citing its affiliation with a partisan PAC.

Sullivan identified the 10 lawmakers on the target list as Steve Allison of San Antonio, Trent Ashby of Lufkin, Ernest Bailes of Shepherd, Travis Clardy of Nacogdoches, Drew Darby of San Angelo, Kyle Kacal of College Station, Stan Lambert of Abilene, Tan Parker of Flower Mound, John Raney of College Station and Phil Stephenson of Wharton

It was an astonishing, baffling and hard-to-credit claim.

Bonnen acknowledged the meeting, but he said in a statement Monday, "at no point in our conversation was Sullivan provided with a list of target members." He said that while he had Burrows there as a witness, he was asking him not to make any comment.

But then, in a July 31 post, Sullivan revealed he had secretly recorded the meeting and that Republican legislators and some others could come to the office of Empower Texans' attorney in downtown Austin to hear the recording for themselves.

"I recorded the meeting because Bonnen is known not only for misrepresenting the truth but for being hot-tempered, impulsive, and undisciplined," Sullivan wrote. "The recording captures that."

The American-Statesman spoke with four legislators who have listened to the recordings — Jonathan Stickland of Bedford, Clardy, Steve Toth of The Woodlands and Kyle Biedermann of Fredericksburg and another person who has listened to the recording multiple times. They corroborated Sullivan's account of the meeting.

Bonnen has called for the release of the full tape, as has state Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, and state Rep. Joe Moody, the El Paso Democrat who was named by Bonnen to be his No. 2 — speaker pro tem.

Otherwise, Bonnen and his allies have been mostly silently as political observers witness a stunning reversal of fortune for Bonnen and Sullivan.

'Flight of fancy'

Scarcely two months ago, Bonnen was lauded by Republicans and Democrats alike for his leadership during his first legislative session as speaker, which saw the bipartisan passage of significant reforms to the public school finance system and property tax collections. Sullivan, meanwhile, had been effectively marginalized in the session as Republicans, chastened by a midterm election in which 12 Republicans lost their seats to Democrats, shelved bills that would have expanded gun rights and further restricted abortion, among other GOP priorities.

Why, Rice University political scientist Mark Jones wondered, was Bonnen "confiding in this person to do something that if there is blowback could cause him serious problems? I could see maybe (Lt. Gov.) Dan Patrick trusting (Sullivan), but not Dennis Bonnen."

After he was quoted on the matter, Jones said, "I got a call from a couple of (Bonnen's) friends who were upset with something I said, and I said, `So explain why, and the only thing they could come up with was that he was riding such a high after the session that he felt completely invulnerable. That he's on top of the world and nobody could touch him. Why else would you do something that is so" — Jones paused, searching for the right word — "dumb."

"This guy's getting kudos like he's never had in his life: `Great session, great session,' exceeding any kind of shine that was on Patrick or (Gov. Greg) Abbott," said a longtime lobbyist who didn't want to be identified because he has clients with business before the Legislature. "He's the man, and it went straight to his head. He thought he could do anything, and now he goes, `I have an idea.' A flight of fancy, I would call it."

"This is one of those ideas that should have never had the opportunity to germinate, that somewhere somebody should have said, `This won't work. This is a bad idea. This doesn't make any sense. It makes no sense at any level'," said Clardy, the first on the target list to hear the recording.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a fall like this," said Stickland, Empower Texans' closest ally in the House and Bonnen's singular antagonist this session, who is not seeking reelection in 2020.

"Dennis was on cloud nine. There were no threats. He’s got the body unified. They’re coming out saying this was a great session," Stickland said. "A week ago the guy put $3 million into a PAC. It looked like he was on top of the world. Now that money is as toxic as it could ever be. In one fell swoop. And by the guy who you had damned near defeated."

"I think as people listen to this and word gets out that it’s legit, people are going to be running the opposite direction of those guys. 2020 is such a big race. So much is on the line, so many people that are running on the cusp and don’t want to be associated with anyone who is involved with backroom deals and potentially breaking the law," Stickland said. "It’s just a horrible look.”

If true, the quid pro quo Sullivan describes might be illegal.

Buck Wood, an Austin lawyer who helped write the pertinent state ethics laws, said he would have to know more about what transpired to judge.

But, he said Friday, "it's disturbing to say the least."

Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore said Friday her office has not received a complaint, and that, in any case, it would be referred to the Texas Rangers. An official with the Rangers said Friday there is no open investigation.

'This will blow over'

Democrats are within nine seats of gaining control of the House in 2020 ahead of the decennial process of redrawing political districts based on new census data. Bonnen was credited with leading a session that avoided the discord and detours of the recent past and placed Republicans in the best position to hold onto their majority in what could be a difficult political environment with President Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. With session's end, Bonnen's top priority is holding onto the majority and the speaker's gavel come the 2021 session.

On July 15, Bonnen launched Texas Leads, a PAC seeded with $3 million from his campaign account, devoted to reelecting GOP members to the House.

"The biggest fear from a Republican perspective is that a lot of people are going to be more reluctant to give him money now," Jones said. "Before the scandal, the Austin lobby was of the belief that there was essentially a 100% chance that Dennis Bonnen would be the speaker in 2021 as long as Republicans maintained the majority. They're less likely to give to Bonnen now because there's less likelihood he will be the next speaker."

But Bonnen's backers are counting on loyalty to him, antipathy toward Sullivan, and the distracted languor of Texas in August to save his speakership.

"Politics is a nasty business, and nothing about this episode is particularly shocking. One of Webster’s dictionary’s definitions of ‘politics’ is: `political activities characterized by artful and often dishonest practices.' It is sad but true," Dallas businessman Doug Deason, a leading GOP donor and Trump supporter, wrote in a Facebook post Thursday.

"Regardless of what really happened, which we may never know, Dennis will not have to resign and Empower Texans will continue to fade into history. This will blow over like all other scandals do. Both sides made big mistakes that are not helpful to our party," Deason wrote. "Dennis should know that, when you see a rattlesnake on the ground, you let it lie and give it a wide berth lest it bite you. MQS should know better than to violate the trust of a legislator in such an egregious manner. He will never be allowed into an office again until he has emptied his pockets and stripped to his skivvies."

'Will have to be addressed'

At a meeting with reporters on the session's last day, Bonnen rebuked Empower Texans for its lonely criticism of the session as insufficiently conservative.

"They are a group that you are fooling yourself and you are not respecting your constituents, you are not respecting this institution, if you are chasing their wants and their desires because you will never meet their wants and their desires," Bonnen said. "They are a group that is based on attacks and disrespect to raise money."

Bonnen said he had met at the beginning of the session with Tim Dunn, the Midland oil and gas man whose deep pockets keep Sullivan and his organization in business, to talk about “not wasting any money in primaries.” Empower Texans has backed GOP primary challengers running to the right of incumbents in past elections.

Four days earlier, in an interview with the Statesman, Bonnen said, “I will help the members of the House be reelected” and would not oppose the reelection of any member, Democrat or Republican.

“What makes the Texas House better than other institutions of governance is we do not campaign against each other. And so then we’re able to come here and work together and solve the problems that face our state,” Bonnen said. “I will not oppose any sitting member in Texas, and no sitting member of the Texas House should be opposing another."

In May, the House Republican Caucus approved a bylaw change, authored by Raney and pushed by party leaders, that would make any GOP member who campaigns against another sitting member subject to expulsion from the caucus. It was aimed at Stickland but could now boomerang.

The caucus has a retreat in October, but Clardy said, "This will not keep until October."

Clardy said more than the requisite 10 members of the caucus will call for an emergency meeting as soon as is practical.

"I went in with an open mind and to hear with my own ears and make my own determination," Clardy said of hearing the recording. "I went in with some thought that maybe it’s not of good quality, that you can’t hear it, you can’t really understand what is being said or that some pieces were missing or had been edited or cut in a way to be misleading or that there might have been some entrapment or attempt to lead Bonnen or Burrows down a certain path."

But, Clardy said, that's not what he found.

"There was really no conclusion for me to reach other than it was consistent with what previously had been reported," he said. "That it was accurate with those statements that (Sullivan) said were made. That it was the voices of those three people and, as much as it pains me to say it, it’s a real problem and it’s very concerning, and I’m personally disappointed and hurt for our chamber, our body and for our state. I’m concerned, and this will have to be addressed."

“Members need to hear it for themselves," said Toth, who heard the recording Wednesday, along with Clardy.

They were "just gobsmacked," said Toth, a conservative member who has not been on speaking terms with Sullivan for four months because of what Toth thought was his unfair criticism of the speaker. “Members need to hear it for themselves.”

"I was told they were going to release the whole thing, unedited," Toth said. "I said I really didn’t want to listen to it unless they were going to release it."

"I’m surprised Bonnen wants it to be released in its entirety," said Biedermann, who heard the recording Thursday night.

Hard to understand why

The 10 targeted members include three — Clardy, Darby and Parker — who sought the speakership that Bonnen claimed. It includes members who, in a more closely divided House, might be open to working with Democrats to elect a coalition speaker. The 10 are among the 25 Republicans who scuttled legislation to ban taxpayer-funded lobbying, a state Republican Party priority

"The Republican members Burrows named are nearly all obstructionists, working with the Democrats to tank conservative legislative victories," Sullivan wrote.

Clardy said: "The common denominator of the people on that list, not to be self-serving, but I think it’s accurate, is every person on that list has a bad habit of representing their district, voting their district and being independent-minded and don’t like to be told what to do.”

They also are not particularly vulnerable.

"Why these 10? Because frankly, a number of us have already been challenged by Empower Texans in different, probably more challenging circumstances and have successfully defended our seats," Clardy said. "It's hard to understand why, why, why, on so many levels. Why?"

If Bonnen steps down as speaker before his term ends, the governor would have to call a special session to choose a successor, though it is not clear whether he could do it explicitly for that purpose.

In the interim, Moody, as speaker pro tem (not speaker), could fill in, but Bonnen can replace him at will so that a Democrat, no matter how pro forma, is not in charge for even a little while.

Dennis Bonnen fileBorn: March 3, 1972, in Houston.

Hometown: Grew up and lived most of his life in Angleton. Now lives in Lake Jackson.

Education: Graduated from Angleton High School in 1990. Received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from St. Edward's University in 1994.

Political experience: First elected to the Texas House representing District 25 in 1996 at the age of 24. He has been reelected ever since. Served as speaker pro tem under Speaker Joe Straus from January 2013 to January 2019, when he was elected House speaker.