Deposition ties national GOP women’s group to texts about transgender youth

A text campaign referencing material for LGBTQ+ youth that caused intense backlash across Texas was sent on behalf of a national Republican caucus fund, according to the messaging company that sent the texts.

The Republican Women Caucus Fund and an individual named John Braun were the senders of the texts, according to a deposition from messaging company Infobip that a Travis County judge ordered be made non-confidential. No information about Braun was provided in the deposition beyond his name.

U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack, a Florida Republican who founded and chairs the caucus fund, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the group’s involvement.

The deposition was shared with The Texas Tribune by the Transgender Education Network of Texas, also known as TENT, which petitioned the judge to require Infobip to reveal the identity of their client.

The texts sent across Texas by Infobip on behalf of the caucus fund linked to resources on TENT’s website and advertised guides on “bathrooms and beyond for trans kids at school” and answers to questions about gender-affirming care in Texas. TENT received immediate backlash for the texts, the group said, including threats of violence.

Days after the texts were sent, mailers from the Texas Transgender Student Union began arriving in mailboxes across the state, addressed to the “students” of the households they were sent to. Similar to the texts, the mailers repeatedly reference TENT despite the group having no affiliation with the sender.

The student union group that sent the mailer was registered in Wyoming in early September, business records show.

TENT filed a petition in Travis County court asking District Judge Jan Soifer to order depositions for this week that would reveal the identity of the texts’ and mailers’ senders. TENT said it felt the texts and mailers, sent right before early voting in the midterm elections, were designed to agitate voters and cause reputational harm to their organization.

Soifer’s order came late Tuesday amid opposition from the Wyoming group’s lawyer, Chris Hilton. Hilton is a former lawyer for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office and was part of Paxton’s defense team during his 2023 impeachment trial.

It is currently unclear whether the Caucus Fund and Braun also were involved in sending the mailers. The deposition from Infobip said it had no knowledge of maintaining a business relationship with the Wyoming group that sent them.

TENT is not alone in seeking the origin of the mailers and texts. State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, asked Paxton’s office to investigate who sent the materials in two separate letters after the texts and mailers were received across Texas.

West Texas District Attorney Sarah Stogner opened a criminal investigation into the mailers last week for potential forgery, and said she was worried they were sent to influence the election currently underway.

Disclosure: Jan Soifer and Patrick O’Connell has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune within the past five years. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in our journalism. Find a complete list of them and more information about our financial and disclosure policies here.