HOUSTON (Washington Insider Magazine) – A Texas conservative activist accused of aggravated assault and illegal restraint had requested federal marshals to assist his private detective in seizing allegedly fake voting ballots from an air conditioner repairman’s van.
According to ABC NEWS, a transcript of a phone conversation between Dr. Steven Hotze and then-US Attorney Ryan Patrick, released in district court in Houston, alleges Hotze advised Patrick of intentions by private detective Mark Aguirre to lead the repairman’s van to crash and then conduct a citizen’s arrest.
Aguirre has been booked with the same allegations, and both men have said that they did nothing illegal through their counsel. Patrick, who is now a solo practitioner, declined to comment. Both guys have been released on bail.
According to authorities, Aguirre had wanted to recover thousands of allegedly forged voter ballots, but the van only contained equipment.
Then-President Donald Trump and others alleged there was widespread election fraud in the November 2020 presidential election, which Democrat Joe Biden won.
According to the transcript, the Texas Attorney General’s department was not assisting, and the local sheriff’s office could not be relied on “obviously because they’re Democrats.”
Ryan said that his office did not employ any federal agents.
Jared Woodfill, Hotze’s attorney, told KTRK-TV that his client is innocent.
Terry Yates, Aguirre’s lawyer, likewise rejected his client’s guilt.
According to the prosecution, 2 days after the phone call, Aguirre reportedly smashed his car into the rear of the repairman’s van, pulled out a firearm, ordered the guy to the ground, and placed a knee on his back.
According to officials, the Houston-based organization Liberty Center for God and Country, whose CEO is Hotze, paid Aguirre $266,400 to conduct the probe. On its website, the organization claims to defend and promote people’ “God-given, unalienable Constitutional rights and liberties.”
Hotze, a conservative political operative, unsuccessfully tried to stop Texas from extending early voting for this year’s poll. He subsequently sued Harris County officials to restrict absentee and in-person voting, alleging without proof that Democrats were engaging in “ballot harvesting” by collecting ballots from the elderly and homeless.
