- Representatives of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association told lawmakers that Republicans would oppose Senate Bill 30, a bill aimed at curbing abuses by personal injury trial lawyers
- Personal injury trial lawyers teamed up with George Soros to bankroll the First Tuesday PAC, which ran ads urging voters to “Stop MAGA Republicans” last year
- A mysterious group whose X account had just two followers, both of whom are associated with the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, recently launched an ad campaign against Senate Bill 30
Last election, personal injury trial lawyers teamed up with George Soros on a multimillion-dollar effort to “Stop MAGA Republicans.” Now, they’re trying to convince Republican lawmakers that Trump voters are against Senate Bill 30, a bill to curtail abusive litigation practices.
Members of the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee heard testimony last week on Senate Bill 30 by State Senator Charles Schwertner. Proponents of the legislation told the Committee that the bill was needed to remedy a situation where personal injury trial lawyers instruct their clients to obtain medical care from a network of medical providers controlled by lawyers who routinely overbill and over-diagnose to inflate damages in cases.
On the other side, representatives of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association argued that Republican voters would be opposed to the legislation.
Craig Eiland, a former Democrat State Representative who is both a practicing trial lawyer and paid lobbyist for the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, told the Committee that the Texas Trial Lawyers Association had conducted polling and focus groups of Republican Primary voters.
“The result of that poll was overwhelmingly that Republican primary voters do not want the government to cap damages in civil trials,” said Eiland. He also said that the focus group found that “Trump voters are very good jurors.”
Despite Eiland’s claims, Senate Bill 30 does not impose a cap on the dollar amount that can be awarded to a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit.
Although Eiland and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association sought to convince lawmakers that Trump voters are on their side, personal injury trial lawyers teamed up with George Soros during the 2024 election to fund efforts to “Stop MAGA Republicans.”
The First Tuesday PAC was one of the most active groups working to elect Democrats in Harris County during the 2024 election. The group raised more than $3.5 million dollars, most of which came from George Soros, other Soros-funded PACs, and personal injury trial lawyers.
The Democracy II PAC, funded by Soros, donated $600,000 to First Tuesday last year. The Soros-backed Texas Majority PAC contributed $340,000, while Soros personally contributed $100,000 during the 2024 election cycle.
Outside of Soros and Soros-funded groups, personal injury trial lawyers accounted for the bulk of the funds raised by First Tuesday. Among the other major donors to First Tuesday was Perdue & Kidd, a Houston personal injury law firm that contributed $100,000. Jim Perdue, Jr., a Partner in Perdue & Kidd and a Past President of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, testified against Senate Bill 30 on behalf of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.
Other members of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association’s Board of Directors or their law firms were also some of the largest donors to First Tuesday. These include Richard Mithoff, Benny Agosto, Robert Ammons, John Eddie Williams, Randall Sorrels, Jim Adler, and John Black.
One digital ad run by First Tuesday featured images of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and other prominent Republicans with the words “Stop MAGA Republicans. Do Something Good. Vote for Every Democrat.”
During his Committee testimony, Eiland remarked that Trump voters were “very good jurors” because they “know the value of life.” First Tuesday’s ad campaign also attacked Republicans over monumental pro-life legislation that has passed under Republican leadership in Texas in recent years.
“MAGA Abortion Bans Kill Mothers. Do Something Good for Texas. Vote for Every Democrat,” read one of First Tuesday’s ads on the abortion issue.
In another one of First Tuesday’s ads attacking Republicans over abortion, text displayed at the start of the video read, “MAGA Republicans Don’t Care About Us or You. That’s Why We’re Voting for Democrats in Every Single Race.” One Google ad paid for by First Tuesday read, “Let’s Stop MAGA – Texas Mothers are Dying. Republicans will steal our daughters’ childhoods. Vote for every Democrat start to finish.”
Meanwhile, a mysterious group has begun running ads making inflammatory claims about Senate Bill 30.
Calling itself the “Citizens for Integrity and Accountability Foundation,” the group has begun an ad campaign claiming that Senate Bill 30 protects “Chinese corporations.” The ad also attacks the bill’s author, Republican State Senator Charles Schwertner.
The legislative advertising disclaimer on the ad lists a post office box in Virginia as the group’s address and names Chris Marston, a Virginia-based campaign finance attorney, as the person who agreed to the advertising.
The Texas Voice has been unable to locate any records relating to the formation of the “Citizens for Integrity and Accountability Foundation.” An e-mail to Marston inquiring about which jurisdiction, if any, the organization was formed, and the identity of the organization’s directors and decision-makers was not returned.
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.
Speight, a member of the Democratic National Committee, is employed as the Director of Political Affairs for the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. Clark, a personal injury trial lawyer, is a member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association’s Board of Directors who donated over $11,000 to the Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC during the 2024 election cycle.
The vast majority of the political contributions made by the Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC during the 2024 election cycle were made to Democrats, including supporting Democrats against Republicans in some of the most hotly contested races in the 2024 general election. The Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC was also the largest contributor during the 2024 election cycle to Democrat State Representatives Ana-Maria Ramos and Rhetta Bowers, who were accused of treating crime victims in a “cold and callous” manner at a hearing of the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee last month.
