American Phoenix Foundation

The American Phoenix Foundation was a conservative non-profit organization dedicated to promoting government transparency and accountability through investigative journalism. Founded in 2010 by Hannah Giles, the Austin, Texas foundation focused on uncovering corruption and misconduct within government and public institutions, aiming to educate the public and foster a more informed citizenry through investigative journalism and media skills training. By 2017, the Foundation was killed by lawfare.

Mission and Activities[edit]

The mission of the American Phoenix Foundation was to expose government malfeasance and promote integrity within public service. The organization employed teams of investigative journalists who conduct undercover operations and detailed investigations to reveal unethical behavior and corruption.

Notable Investigations[edit]

The organization spent several years investigating a fraud scheme between the Texas Trial Lawyers and Judges in southern and eastern Texas, where insured appraisal values would be inflated for wind-storm damage, and then judges elected by, and on the payroll of, trial lawyers would settle cases against a state insurance fund for much more money than it should have been paying, resulting in tens, if not hundreds, of millions in fraud.

The organization assisted in the investigation into the University of Texas Law School Foundation, where a non-profit was set up to be the private fund for the public institution. Allegations said that the funds were used to compensate legislators for their votes in a vote bribery scheme.

The organization documented voter fraud in the 2012 and 2014 Colorado elections, including documenting the way in which vote-by-mail was being abused by the political left.

The organization worked on school choice and education reform efforts from 2012-2015 in Colorado, primarily around Denver and Colorado Springs.

The organization investigated the judiciary and legislatures of multiple states. One in particular, was the Texas Legislature in the 2015 session.

The organization developed a long-form interview series called "Stories Told" with interviews with long-time journalists and non-traditional journalists.

Through the use of undercover journalists and camera footage, the Foundation captured legislators dining and dancing with lobbyists, drunk on the House floor, among other videos.

The most powerful video related to Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) explaining that one lobbyist in particular was connected to the Bonanno Crime Family, one of the 'five families' of the New York mafia. On undercover video, Dutton claimed that the then-Sheriff of Galveston, Texas was willing to kill people on his behalf, and implied that the lobbyist was delivering suitcases full of cash with the escort of the Sheriff.

Legislature Reacts[edit]

The Texas Legislature, in May 2015, passed a substitute version of Texas SB19, that would have criminalized the journalism of the Foundation. The bill would have criminalized any recordings in the state capital, and would have made it criminal to record any legislator or lobbyist without all-party consent to the recording. The bill criminalized the release of any videos obtained in this way retroactively back to 1984. The bill's amendments, pushed by Reps. Charlie Geren and Byron Cook, were clearly unconstitutional.

Litigation & Lawfare[edit]

The Austin lobby started lawfare and harassment against the Foundation. A lobbyist for the Texas Trial Lawyers Association started a frivolous suit against the Foundation in 2015 in order to disclose the donors to the Foundation. The Foundation resisted and refused to do so, claiming that their donors were likely to be subject to harassment and punishment for having financially supported the organization.

Through a series of legal maneuvers, the litigants in the case were able to get their own nominee appointed to manage the Foundation's affairs. The organization stopped operating after the Travis County District Court appointed the Trial Lawyers' designee to manage the Foundation's affairs.

References[edit]

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