- Texans for Strong Borders has begun an ad campaign against SB 30, a bill to curtail abusive litigation practices that passed the Texas Senate with unanimous Republican support
- Chris Russo, the President of Texans for Strong Borders, has been linked to prominent white nationalist and antisemitic commentator Nick Fuentes
- Texans for Strong Borders and other organizations associated with political donor Tim Dunn have begun to align themselves with personal injury trial lawyers who teamed up with George Soros last year to “Stop MAGA Republicans”
Texans for Strong Borders, an organization led by an associate of notorious antisemitic and white nationalist commentator Nick Fuentes, has launched an effort aligned with liberal personal injury trial lawyers against Senate Bill 30.
This legislation, a priority of Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, passed the Texas Senate on Wednesday on a vote of 20-11, with all Republican Senators voting in favor of the bill and all Democrat Senators voting in opposition. Senate Bill 30 seeks to end abusive litigation practices that the bill’s proponents say have driven up the cost of insurance and have led to a volatile litigation environment that has caused some businesses to reconsider investments in Texas.
In 2023, the Texas Tribune reported that Chris Russo, the founder and President of Texans for Strong Borders, accompanied and drove Fuentes to a day-long meeting at the Ft. Worth offices of Pale Horse Strategies, a political consulting firm associated with prominent political donor Tim Dunn. The fallout from the meeting led to the removal of former State Representative Jonathan Stickland, then the owner of Pale Horse Strategies, from his role as President of the Dunn-funded Defend Texas Liberty PAC.
Pale Horse Strategies has since rebranded as West Fort Worth Management, and the Texas United for a Conservative Majority PAC has replaced the Defend Texas Liberty PAC as Dunn’s primary vehicle for political giving in Texas.
According to a report by independent journalist Amanda Moore, Russo – also known by the online alias of “Optics Respecter” – was a longtime devotee of Fuentes’ who was mentioned by Fuentes on his livestreams several times. One of these instances was when “Optics Respecter” gave Fuentes $100 to celebrate Fuentes garnering 100,000 followers, leading Fuentes to reply, “Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate it friend, frendo. Big Optics Respecter. We got to get back in Warzone one of these days.”
Moore also reported that “Optics Respecter” operated a now-deleted Twitter account that frequently posted racist and sexist content.
Texans for Strong Borders has been a key part of Dunn’s political network in recent years. A 2023 donor retreat hosted by Dunn showcased several organizations including Texas Family Project, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, Texans for Vaccine Choice, Texans for Strong Borders, and Texas Gun Rights. Texas Scorecard Publisher Michael Quinn Sullivan was also a featured speaker at the event.
Since 2022, the Dunn-funded Defend Texas Liberty PAC has given Texans for Strong Borders (known officially as “Strong Borders Action”) $112,000. A political action committee affiliated with Texans for Strong Borders received $15,000 from Defend Texas Liberty in 2022.
Texans for Strong Borders’ text message effort against Senate Bill 30 centers around the allegation that the legislation protects foreign companies from civil liability. Similar claims were made by personal injury trial lawyers who testified in opposition to the bill before the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee last month.
These claims have been debunked by Republican State Senators, including a lawmaker who has led the charge in the Texas Senate to protect Texas from threats posed by foreign adversaries such as China.
During a debate on the Senate floor over Senate Bill 30, State Senator Lois Kolkhorst asked the bill’s author, State Senator Charles Schwertner, to help her clear up “misconceptions” about the legislation that arose because of advertising opposing the bill. Such television ads have been run by newly formed groups with little public footprint, including the “Citizens for Integrity and Accountability Foundation.”
An X account for the Citizens for Integrity and Accountability Foundation had just two followers when it was first discovered by The Texas Voice– Dennis Speight and Jon Clark- both of whom are affiliated with the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.
“Does this bill have anything to do with China,” asked Kolkhorst.
“This bill has absolutely nothing to do with China,” replied a bemused Schwertner. “Every cause of action is still a cause of action. I’m not for sure what the angle is in China.”
Kolkhorst then read some of the accusations about the bill.
“If you’re harmed by a Chinese company, good luck on getting your medical bills paid,” read Kolkhorst. She then asked Schwertner, “Does this bill in any way – in any way – protect China? Or a communist Country?”
“Absolutely not,” said Schwertner.
Kolkhorst is the author of Senate Bill 17, which prohibits hostile foreign nations and companies and individuals domiciled in hostile foreign nations from purchasing property in Texas.
In a social media post, Kolkhorst explained her support for Senate Bill 30 in order to clear up “misinformation” spread by opponents of the bill.
“To curb lawsuit abuse, SB 30 seeks to strike a balance between just compensation and arbitrary awards by juries by adding transparency to medical bills and other information presented to the jury,” wrote Kolkhorst
“These proposed reforms for how a jury receives information in a trial are very upsetting to those who benefit from the lack of transparency given to a jury, hence the misleading ads. So, to stop the bill, some opponents of SB 30 claim the bill is written to protect Chinese communists instead of the actual intent of the bill, which is to improve the information given to juries during a trial.”
Texans for Strong Borders’ opposition to Senate Bill 30 is just one of a growing number of examples in which organizations in Tim Dunn’s orbit have aligned with liberal personal injury trial lawyers.
A recent episode of Texas Scorecard’s “Real Texans” program, hosted by Texas Scorecard Publisher Michael Quinn Sullivan, featured an interview with Austin personal injury trial lawyer Adam Loewy. During the 2024 election season, Loewy donated $2,500 to the Williamson County Democratic Party PAC, $2,581.45 to the Travis County Democratic Party, and $5,000 to the Texas Blue Action Democrats.
Loewy’s other political contributions last year included a $5,000 donation to Soros-backed Democrat Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, who has been described as having a “soft-on-crime, hard-on-cops inclination” by the National Police Association.
The Texas Voice has previously reported that Soros teamed up with personal injury trial lawyers on a multimillion-dollar to “Stop MAGA Republicans” in Harris County during the 2024 general election. Notably, Tim Dunn was absent from efforts by Republican donors through the Judicial Fairness PAC last election that resulted in winning new Republican majorities on appellate courts in the South Texas, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio regions.
