Prosecutors with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office (HCDAO) have asked a criminal court judge to sanction attorneys representing three of County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s staffers indicted on felony charges last April.
Hidalgo’s Chief of Staff Alex Triantaphyllis, Policy Director Wallis Nader, and former aide Aaron Dunn all face felony charges of Misuse of Official Information and Tampering with a Record related to steering a controversial $11 million vaccine outreach contract to a firm owned by highly connected Democratic strategist Felicity Pereyra.
In a 14-page filing on behalf of the state, prosecutors allege that attorneys Marla Thompson Poirot, Dan Cogdell, and Brett Podolosky violated Texas’ Criminal Procedure laws that stipulate secrecy for grand jury proceedings.
HCDAO also says that the attorneys for Hidalgo’s staffers violated the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct that state a lawyer shall not knowingly “make a false statement of material fact or law to a tribunal.”
The allegations stem from the defendants’ 36-page motion filed last month asking the judge to remove Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg from the cases, claiming she was biased and merely engaged in a political feud with Hidalgo.
In that motion, the defense provided numerous details about the grand jury proceedings and subpoenas and claimed that search warrants sought to obtain communications and documents about the vaccine outreach contract were privileged and should not be...
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