Article

2023-11-16 Government Corruption

Texas judge no longer denying she used encrypted messaging apps for county business

[Fox] Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in 2022 that she had not used encrypted apps like WhatsApp, Signal and Slack 'in years'.

Judge Lina Hidalgo — a Democrat in Harris County, Texas, the third-largest county in the U.S. — is no longer denying she used encrypted messaging apps to conduct county business, despite being called out for doing so for multi-million-dollar contracts in 2021.

FOX 26 Houston reported that last week, Texas Rangers were granted five additional search warrants to investigate bid-rigging in Harris County.

In 2021, Hidalgo faced intense scrutiny over an $11 million vaccine outreach contract to Elevate Strategies, run by Felicity Pereyra, a Democratic political insider with ties to the county commissioners' court. Pereyra also worked on Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Pereyra's company was a one-woman operation until recently and had only existed for two years before being awarded the contract.

Pereyra’s company was awarded the contract over UT Health, one of the city’s major hospitals, and the "deciders" for the contract all answered directly to Hidalgo without input from the commissioners' panel.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg's office subpoenaed Hidalgo regarding the contract, and when asked about the subpoena, an attorney for Hidalgo told local press, "We have always followed the law, and we continue to follow the law."

A mix of industry experts and county officials told FOX 26 that Elevate Strategies did not even meet the basic requirements to engage in an endeavor of this scope. Additionally, the experts and officials said that there was no way that Elevate Strategies could have met the strict financial requirements for bidding on county contracts.

Posted by Skidmark 2023-11-16 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11138 views ] Top

#1 She is a wounded gnu being circled by brain damaged lions. Maybe they eat her. Maybe they wander off, lay down and scratch their nuts. It’s sort of like all these controversies with the GOP Congress investigating the administration.

Posted by Super Hose 2023-11-16 11:35|| 2023-11-16 11:35|| Front Page Top

#2 Even before I read the article I knew it was a Democratzi judge doing this.

Just like the judges in Nazi Germany, these judges put their party first and the law a distant second.

Posted by EMSArtifact 2023-11-16 12:31|| 2023-11-16 12:31|| Front Page Top

#3 IIUC Texas "County Judges" are more similar to County Managers rather than Judges

Posted by Frank G 2023-11-16 12:47|| 2023-11-16 12:47|| Front Page Top

#4 What good is power if you ignore friends and family?

Posted by Skidmark 2023-11-16 16:39|| 2023-11-16 16:39|| Front Page Top

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