In 1 hour, Bonnen turns on both sides

AUSTIN — House Speaker Dennis Bonnen undermined fellow Republicans and insulted Democrats alike in an audio recording released Tuesday that confirms he asked aconservative activist to direct political firepower at 10 largely moderate GOP members and offered the activist media credentials in return .

Empower Texans CEO Michael Quinn Sullivan released the hourlong bombshell recording he surreptitiously made after months of speculation about what happened in the private June meeting in Bonnen’s office at the Capitol.

Sullivan disclosed that he had recorded it when he publicly accused Bonnen in July of offering him a quid-pro-quo.

At the meeting, Bonnen disparaged several members in his chamber, calling Democratic lawmaker Jon Rosenthal of Houston “gay” and saying he “makes my skin crawl.” He called a Dallas-area Democrat “vile” and “heinous” and urged Sullivan to put up candidates against both of them.

During the meeting, Bonnen, R-Lake Jackson, blamed the moderate Republicans “who don’t want to help with anything” for slowing the conservative agenda in the Legislature. Empower Texans has spent millions of dollars funding primary challenges to incumbent GOP lawmakers to steer the Legislature to the right.

“Let’s go after these Republicans,” Bonnen said in the recording. “We should get rid of some of these people. They are horrible.”

A Texas Rangers investigation of the meeting is ongoing, and the future of Bonnen’s tenure as the speaker is at stake. The Rangers’ findings will be shared with Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne, a Republican, who will decide whether to bring charges.

Under state law, public officials accused of wrongdoing are subject to prosecution in their home counties, not where the alleged crime took place.

Legal experts consulted by Hearst Newspapers say criminal charges are unlikely.

It’s unclear, though, how much damage has been done to the political future of Bonnen, who has served in the House more than 20 years and is known as a brash politician with sharp elbows. He was elected speaker in January.

“Part of the reason why it’s so bad is because he managed to alienate or disparage a very diverse set of audiences: moderate Republicans, and conservative Republicans, and Democrats, and the cities and counties, and women. He just made so many enemies, politically, in this one-hour tape,” said Brendan Steinhauser, a Republican political consultant in Austin.

Bonnen, a bank executive, and Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Republican lawyer from Lubbock who also took part in the meeting, have denied any wrongdoing.

Bonnen also denied offering a deal to Sullivan, and denied providing a list of potential targets to Sullivan.

However, in the recording, which was released by Sullivan but has not been authenticated, Bonnen lays out the terms in detail. He asks Sullivan to lay off the vast majority of Republicans in the House and instead focus on moderate Republicans and Democrats.

“I need you firing harder that way than these ways. Does that make sense? And let me tell you what I’ll do for you — real quick, you need to hear what I want to do for you,” Bonnen said. “If we can make this work, I’ll put your guys on the floor next session.”

Bonnen was referring to media credentials. The Texas Scorecard, an affiliate of Empower Texans, has been denied access to the House floor because House rules forbid interest groups from having the credentials.

In the conversation, Bonnen says he is not offering an “agreement,” but rather an “understanding.”

‘A dirty day’

Bonnen again denied wrongdoing again Tuesday as Sullivan released the audio, but did not address the content of the recording.

“This was nothing more than a political discussion — the problem is that I had it with that guy,” Bonnen said in a statement. “My colleagues have always deserved the facts and context this recording provides, and with clear evidence now disproving allegations of criminal wrongdoing, the House can finally move on.”

During the meeting, Bonnen urged Sullivan to “not spend millions of dollars fighting in primaries, when we need to spend millions of dollars trying to win in November.” President Donald Trump, Bonnen said, is hurting House Republicans in the suburbs, jeopardizing the 83-67 GOP majority in the House.

“If you need some primaries to fight in, I will leave and Dustin will tell you some that we would love it if you fought in them — not that you need our permission,” Bonnen told Sullivan early in the meeting.

The 10 Republicans put forward as targets for Empower Texans have taken to calling themselves the X Men. They include Reps. Steve Allison of San Antonio; Trent Ashby of Lufkin; Ernest Bailes of Shepherd; Travis Clardy of Nacogdoches; Drew Darby of San Angelo; Kyle Kacal ofCollege Station; Stan Lambert of Abilene; Tan Parker of Flower Mound; John Raney of College Station; and Phil Stephenson of Wharton.

When he mentioned Democrat Rosenthal, Bonnen recalled the first time he met the freshman legislator, an engineer whose district includes Jersey Village.

“(Bonnen Chief of Staff) Gavin Massingill said it well, begging this is all confidential,” Bonnen said. “After we meet with him the first time, he leaves us, I said what did you think of him? And he goes, well, his wife’s going to be really pissed when she learns he’s gay. I said, yep.”

Rosenthal forgave Bonnen in July for the remarks and would not comment about them Tuesday. Instead, Rosenthal issued a statement: “At the end of the day, if you’re not making the lives ofeveryday people better — then you don’t deserve to be in office.”

Bonnen added that Democratic Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos, D-Richardson, is “awful.”

Ramos, a family law attorney, said she's speechless and wants Bonnen to resign. Earlier this year, Bonnen called on sitting lawmakers from both political parties not to attack each other in the elections. She said the audio — in which Bonnen and Burrows suggest both Republicans and Democrats the conservative group should target — shows he is freely speaking "from both sides of his mouth."

“It’s such a dirty day in Texas politics when our third most powerful person in the state uses government resources to garner favor,” she said.

The meeting underscores Republican anxiety over the 2020 elections. Democrats aim to flip nine Republican seats to gain a majority in the House, tilting the power dynamic when the Legislature redraws congressional and legislative districts that will shape elections for the next decade.

Democrats are targeting two prime districts in the Houston area that now are up for grabs after Republicans elected to those seats decided against running again.

Bonnen’s attorney, Brian Roark, said he is confident Bonnen broke no laws.

“Trump’s tweeted worse than that in the last five minutes,” Roark said. “Thank God talking trash about political things is not illegal. At the end of the day, the elements of a crime are just not here.”

Neither side would have benefited financially from Bonnen’s offer, Roark said. Bonnen was asking Sullivan to lay off the larger Republican caucus on behalf of his GOP members and the party, and the press credentials hold no financial value. andrea.zelinski

@chron.com