AUSTIN — State contractors who spy on lawmakers and whistleblowers would face heavy fines and termination of contracts under legislation filed by a Plano lawmaker.
Republican Rep. Jeff Leach, chairman of the Texas House Jurisprudence Committee, filed House Bill 5061 in mid-March, two weeks before reports surfaced in an explosive legislative hearing that North Texas lawmakers had been put under surveillance by a managed care organization in Texas.
Superior HealthPlan CEO Mark Sanders admitted under questioning by lawmakers Wednesday that he had authorized private investigators half a dozen years ago to conduct background checks on patients, health care providers, at least one journalist and legislators.
Sanders was fired Thursday, hours after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a formal investigation into the company’s alleged actions, which took place from 2017 to 2019.
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His termination and the accusations against him triggered sharp reactions on social media from lawmakers and others in the Capitol.
“I appreciate my colleagues … calling out the egregious actions of Superior Health at yesterday’s hearing and look forward to the investigation on their spying on and potentially blackmailing lawmakers, journalists, and private citizens,” state Rep. Cassandra Garcia Hernandez, D-Farmer’s Branch, posted on...
The White House is clapping back against media reports claiming intel officials have been using the end-to-end encrypted messaging app Signal to send classified information.