John Colyandro

Last updated

John Dominick Colyandro is a former Senior Advisor and Policy Director for Texas Governor Greg Abbott. [1] He is a former executive director of the Texas Conservative Coalition and the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute. [2] He is also the former executive director of the political action committee Texans for a Republican Majority. [3]

Contents

He was indicted for money laundering and unlawful acceptance of corporate contributions in 2004. [4] He pleaded guilty to illegal acceptance of political contributions in 2012. [5]

Early years

Colyandro graduated from Westfield High School in Houston in 1982. In 1983, while attending the University of Texas at Austin, he founded the Texas Review Society and the Texas Review, a conservative political newspaper, which was the antecedent to the Austin Review, Texas Education Review, and Houston Review. [6] Later in the 1980s, he wrote direct mail pieces for Karl Rove. When Colyandro was hired as executive director of TRMPAC, he was described as a "longtime pal of Rove['s]." [7]

In 1985, Colyandro founded the Texas Conservative Coalition to shape public policy through the promotion of limited government, free enterprise, individual liberties, and traditional values. Today, the TCC is widely recognized as one of the largest and most influential caucuses in the Texas Legislature. [8]

Tom DeLay scandal

In 2001, Colyandro was selected by Jim Ellis and Tom DeLay (R-Texas) to be executive director of TRMPAC. [9] Three years later, in 2004, Colyandro was indicted for accepting illegal corporate donations and for illegally laundering $190,000 in corporate funds through the Republican National State Elections Committee; money that later wound up in the hands of Texas Republican candidates. [10] He was indicted [11] on September 28, 2005, along with then-House Majority Leader DeLay and Jim Ellis, who ran DeLay's political action committee Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC).

Colyandro, who "already faced charges of money laundering in the case, also faces 13 counts of unlawful acceptance of a corporate political contribution," and Ellis were indicted September 13, 2005, "on additional felony charges of violating Texas election law and criminal conspiracy to violate election law for their role in the 2002 legislative races." [12] "The money laundering charges stem from $190,000 in corporate funds that were sent to the Republican National Committee, "which then spent the same amount on seven candidates for the Texas Legislature." [12]

In November 2012, Colyandro pleaded guilty to lesser charges of accepting illegal political contributions during the 2002 state legislative elections. He received a one-year deferred adjudication on two Class A misdemeanor charges. There will be no final conviction on his record if he successfully completes unsupervised probation. He also was fined $8,000. [13]

Recent activities

In 2014, Colyandro advised then Texas Attorney General, now Governor, Greg Abbott on his policy positions and agenda. [14] In September 2017 Abbott appointed him as a Senior Advisor and Policy Director within the Office of the Governor. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom DeLay</span> American politician (born 1947)

Thomas Dale DeLay is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. A Republican, DeLay represented Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1985 until 2006. He served as House majority leader from 2003 to 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Stockman</span> American politician (born 1956)

Stephen Ernest Stockman is an American politician who is a member of the Republican Party and a convicted felon. He served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 9th congressional district from 1995 to 1997 and for Texas's 36th congressional district from 2013 to 2015. Stockman ran in the Republican primary for the United States Senate in the 2014 election but lost to incumbent Senator John Cornyn.

Texans for a Republican Majority or TRMPAC is a general-purpose political action committee registered with the Texas Ethics Commission. It was founded in 2001 by former Republican Texas U.S. Rep. and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Abramoff</span> American lobbyist (born 1959)

Jack Allan Abramoff is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, and writer. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction and 21 other people either pleading guilty or being found guilty, including White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional aides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 Texas redistricting</span> Controversial redistricting of Texass districts for the U.S. House of Representatives

The 2003 Texas redistricting was a controversial intercensus state plan that defined new congressional districts. In the 2004 elections, this redistricting supported the Republicans taking a majority of Texas's federal House seats for the first time since Reconstruction. Democrats in both houses of the Texas Legislature staged walkouts, unsuccessfully trying to prevent the changes. Opponents challenged the plan in three suits, combined when the case went to the United States Supreme Court in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Earle</span> American politician and judge (1942–2020)

Ronald Dale Earle was an American politician and judge who was, from January 1977 to January 2009, the District Attorney for Travis County, Texas. He became nationally known for filing charges against House majority leader Tom DeLay in September 2005 for conspiring to violate Texas' election law and/or to launder money. In Texas, Earle was known for his criminal justice reform efforts which focused on crime prevention, alternative sentencing, victim advocacy, and the reintegration of former offenders into society. In 1983, Earle – an Eagle Scout – prosecuted himself for an election law violation after missing a campaign finance filing deadline by one day; he was fined $212. Earle was a fixture in Travis County politics and served in public office there for more than 30 years, joking that he was asked if he was the "District Eternity".

The Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal was a United States political scandal exposed in 2005; it related to fraud perpetrated by political lobbyists Jack Abramoff, Ralph E. Reed Jr., Grover Norquist and Michael Scanlon on Native American tribes who were seeking to develop casino gambling on their reservations. The lobbyists charged the tribes an estimated $85 million in fees. Abramoff and Scanlon grossly overbilled their clients, secretly splitting the multi-million dollar profits. In one case, they secretly orchestrated lobbying against their own clients in order to force them to pay for lobbying services.

The 2006 Republican Party scandals resulted in four resignations and three election losses for Republican politicians during the first two years of George W. Bush's second term as President and leading up to the 2006 midterm elections.

Americans for a Republican Majority was a political action committee formed by former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and directed by Karl Gallant. On July 7, 2006 ARMPAC reached an agreement with the Federal Election Commission to pay a fine of $115,000 for various violations and to shut down operations. It filed its termination papers on April 24, 2007.

James W. Ellis is a political lobbyist self-described in 2018 as "a 35-year veteran of politics at the state and national levels". Ellis began his career with the San Diego County Republican Party, and then served as an original staff member for then-Congressman Bill Lowery (R-CA). He also worked as President of the Ramhurst Corporation of North Carolina and as a manager of the Public Issues Department of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom DeLay campaign finance trial</span>

Tom DeLay, a Republican U.S. Representative from Texas from 1979–83, and from 1985–2006 and the House Majority Leader from 2003–05, was convicted in 2010 of money laundering and conspiracy charges related to illegal campaign finance activities aimed at helping Republican candidates for Texas state office in the 2002 elections. In 2013, a Texas Court of Appeals panel acquitted DeLay when it overturned his conviction. This decision was affirmed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on October 1, 2014. DeLay had three years from that date, i.e. until October 1, 2017, to file any lawsuits for wrongful action.

Operation Bid Rig was a long-term investigation into political corruption in New Jersey conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2002 to 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Grimm (politician)</span> American politician (born 1970)

Michael Gerard Grimm is an American former politician who represented New York in the United States Congress from 2011 to 2015, when he was convicted of tax fraud and resigned from Congress. Grimm represented New York's 13th congressional district during his first term, after which he represented New York's 11th congressional district. Both districts consisted of Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn. Grimm is a member of the Republican Party; during his time in office he was the sole Republican to represent a significant portion of New York City.

William "Sam" McCann Jr. is an American politician who was a member of the Illinois Senate from 2011 to 2019. He was first elected in 2010 as a Republican in the 49th district, defeating incumbent Democrat Deanna Demuzio, and was later elected to the redrawn 50th district in central Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Paxton</span> American politician and lawyer

Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the attorney general of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the Texas Senate representing the eighth district and as a member of the Texas House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse Benton</span> American political consultant

Jesse Reeves Benton is an American political operative, convicted felon, writer, and entrepreneur. Benton is closely associated with the Paul family, having served as a campaign manager for both Ron Paul and Rand Paul. He is married to Valori Pyeatt, Ron Paul's granddaughter.

Rosemary Lehmberg is a former District Attorney of Travis County, which includes the capital city of Austin, Texas. She began working in the District Attorney's office in 1976. She headed many Divisions of the DA's office, establishing the Travis County Children's Advocacy Center, and was called "The Best Lawyer for Children's Issues" by The Austin Chronicle. In 2009, she became the first female District Attorney in Travis County. Lehmberg served eight years as Travis County’s district attorney before retiring in January 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Erickson (activist)</span> American political operative (born 1962)

Paul Erickson is an American conservative political operative, lawyer, and businessperson. He has been involved in several Republican presidential campaigns. He has strong ties to the National Rifle Association and Russian interests and in 2017 was subject to federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. In November 2019, Erickson pleaded guilty to federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering in connection with an effort to defraud investors in an oil development scheme. He was sentenced to seven years in federal prison in July 2020, but was granted a full pardon on January 19, 2021, Donald Trump's last full day in office as president of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 Texas House of Representatives election</span>

The 2002 Texas House of Representatives elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Texas voters elected state representatives in all 150 State House of Representatives districts. The winners of this election served in the 78th Texas Legislature, with seats apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. State representatives serve for two-year terms. Republicans gained control of the House with 88 seats to the Democrats' 62, giving them a governmental trifecta for the first time since Reconstruction.

References

  1. ↑ "Governor's Office - Texas State Directory Online". www.txdirectory.com. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  2. ↑ "Staff – TXCCRI". txccri.org. Archived from the original on 2017-10-18. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  3. ↑ Casey, Rick (2010-11-30). "Rick Casey: Who's really behind DeLay's fall?". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
  4. ↑ Swaby, Aliyya (2016-11-03). "GOP operative John Colyandro to lead "school choice" lobbying group". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  5. ↑ "DeLay co-defendant Colyandro pleads guilty". statesman. Archived from the original on 2017-10-18. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  6. ↑ "National Review: Notes from the underground - college campus journalist, includes a related article on the publishing of Yale Free Press". Archived from the original on 2006-02-10. Retrieved 2005-12-18.
  7. ↑ "Arquivo.pt". Archived from the original on 2009-10-14. Retrieved 2017-04-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ↑ "Texas Conservative Coalition". www.txcc.org. Archived from the original on 5 December 2002. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  9. ↑ Bickerstaff, Steve (2007). Lines in the Sand: congressional redistricting in Texas and the downfall of Tom DeLay . University of Texas Press. p.  49. ISBN   978-0-292-71474-8.
  10. ↑ Smith, R. Jeffrey (9 September 2005). "DeLay PAC Is Indicted For Illegal Donations". Washingtonpost.com.
  11. ↑ "Indictment of U.S. House Majority Leader Tom Delay by a Texas Grand Jury". News.findlaw.com. Retrieved 2016-12-15.
  12. 1 2 http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/09/13/election.probe.ap [ dead link ]
  13. ↑ "DeLay co-defendant Colyandro pleads guilty | www.statesman.com". www.statesman.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  14. ↑ "Who's Advising Abbott". Dallas News Trailblazer's Blog. Dallas News. Archived from the original on April 8, 2015. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Luis Saenz replacing Daniel Hodge as Gov. Abbott's chief of staff". statesman. Archived from the original on 2017-10-18. Retrieved 2017-10-18.

Texans for Public Justice

Other

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.