An Open Letter to Sid Miller
Dear Mr. Miller,
Earlier today, during a Texas Tribune event with Evan Smith, you personally attacked me by name and made a number of factually inaccurate statements about a sworn complaint I filed against you with the Texas Ethics Commission.
Despite your statement to the contrary this morning, my complaint against you was accepted by the Texas Ethics Commission (see attachment). It was not dismissed, as you falsely stated, and it will indeed be pursued by the Ethics Commission. A small portion of the complaint, concerning clerical issues, was determined not to be within the jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission. The main focus of the complaint, which involves the legality of you personally profiting over $21,000 from a personal loan you made your campaign, is currently pending before the Commission.
You have stated publicly you believe it was legal for you to profit from your campaign account in this manner, despite a law passed by the legislature on your watch which appears to prohibit a candidate or officeholder from reimbursing themselves more than the amount they reported as a self-loan to their campaign. I would note that the Ethics Commission only has jurisdiction over allegations that, if true, constitute a violation of the law and that you have publicly acknowledged personally profiting over $21,000 from a personal loan to your campaign.
The question about whether or not the law allowed you to profit from this loan could have easily been settled had you requested an advisory opinion from the Texas Ethics Commission regarding this matter. You failed to request such an opinion, and continue to refuse to do so despite this option remaining available to you.
There remain a number of questions regarding the manner in which your campaign paid back, with interest, the $10,000 loan you made your campaign in 2000. During your appearance with Evan Smith earlier today, you appeared to indicate that the payment was made in some combination of cash and stock. In an article published in the Dallas Morning News last month, you appeared to indicate that you transferred stock from your campaign account to a personal account in order to avoid paying taxes, which you described as “money down the toilet.” In order to clarify these questions once and for all, you should immediately release all bank and tax records that show the exact manner in which you paid yourself from your campaign account as well as the amount of any taxes paid on profits you realized from interest on the personal loan to your campaign.
Additionally, during your interview with Evan Smith, you attempted to make issue out of my employment. My interest in seeing you defeated in the Republican primary has nothing to do with my employment, it has everything with wanting to have a strong Republican ticket in November. As I wrote last month (https://bigjolly.com/
The Democrats would love nothing more than to have a candidate on the statewide Republican ticket who is an ethically challenged, revolving door lobbyist. Making matters even worse is your decision to make an acknowledged serial adulterer who has a long history of making offensive remarks about women and minorities, in addition to other questionable behavior, as your campaign treasurer and co-chairman.
As further evidence that you will stoop to no low in order to further your personal ambitions, your paid campaign director made a despicable and, quite frankly, libelous tweet regarding one of your opponents in the Republican primary. His behavior is illustrative of the kind of gutter politics that most voters find reprehensible.
As you are well aware, the Republican Party across the state is facing an aggressive challenge from the left. We must put our best foot forward and nominate qualified conservative candidates that voters can be proud of if we want to continue our success at the ballot box. This is why it is imperative that Republican primary voters nominate any of your opponents as the Republican nominee for Texas Agriculture Commissioner.
Best Regards,
Mark McCaig
Colton Buckley, who professes to be such a staunch conservative, is clearly NOT, as his antics are typical of liberal Democrat tactics. He needs to be fired and he needs to publicly retract his false and libelous statement. Buckley exemplifies what is wrong with politics today, and he has demonstrated that he has major character flaws.
How absolutely trashy, this right here is why people hate politics. How crooked can you get Sid Miller? I’m sad that Colton represents my alumni university, he makes Tarleton State look like it’s full of uneducated and classless individuals.
Sounds like a bunch of babies. Grow up and be men.
Hannah: As a fellow, Tarleton State University alumni, I couldn’t agree more.
Whenever I see Mark McCaig’s name I immediately gag. He’s a toady for Steve Mostyn and has no credibility whatsoever. zilch nada none.
Colton Buckley libeled John Devine last cycle to defend David Medina. Seems like he is a fan of dirty politicians.
Colton Buckley appears to be one of the worst examples of conservatives on the market today and any campaign he throws his lot in has already lost my vote. Like GOP Red State said, he needs to issue an apology for his libelous tweet and make amends.
It’s not surprising how well Colton Buckley’s true character shines through on just one tweet. He seems like just a mislead youth who doesn’t know how to think before he speaks. I will never support any campaign he’s managing and that’s for damn sure. Thanks and Gig’em.
Having personally known Buckley for years, and having experienced his true character first hand, I can assure you that this tweet shouldn’t come as a surprise. Buckley, as well as the majority of those he’s represented, has literally left a trail of incompetence, lies, and misrepresentation. I, nor my friends, family, or associates will ever support anything that Buckley has touched, or Sid Miller, for that matter. This is exactly what’s wrong with today’s politics, and it greatly saddens me. Let’s get this guy out of here.
People who swing so swiftly to the judgement of a persons character without having known the man have no ground to stand on. If anybody doubts the conservative principles of Mr. Buckley, they have no place better to look than the conservatives who back him and the record of hard work and dedication he has to the advancement of those principles in all aspects of government and of life in general. It is a grave mistake of this party to underestimate and to discount youth as the greatest and most valuable political resource, and Colton Buckley continues to serve as a leader to not only his peers but to anybody interested in changing Texas politics for the better. This tweet is not like him and was not a piece of made up libel, but the outing of rumors that have been passed through the halls of the Texas Capitol by mouths too scared to speak out.
Wow. I have to congratulate you on authoring what is the stupidest blog comment I’ve ever read. Look- I’ve been involved in politics since I was in high school and you won’t find a bigger advocate for not only getting younger people involved in conservative politics, but elevating them to positions of leadership (I was 25 when I got elected to the SREC). But being young and/or conservative does not give you license to publish false and defamatory smears about political opponents. The type of behavior demonstrated by Colton Buckley is a detriment to the conservative movement, not an asset.
Buckley’s tweet is the textbook definition of libel. I’ll refer you to section 73.001 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies code for a definition since it appears your understanding of libel is not based in fact. An unfortunate reality in politics is that people will make up false, though salacious, rumors for personal gain. The reason these rumors never see the light of day (or as your warped mind describes, they are not uttered by mouths “too scared to speak out”) is for the very reason that they are totally false. Although I must say that although I’ve heard a great many rumors about current and former legislators over the years, I had never heard the one published by Buckley nor had anyone I spoke to about this.
You describe Colton Buckley as a “leader.” When real leaders make mistakes that hurt people, they acknowledge their mistake, apologize for it, and do whatever they need to make things rights. To my knowledge, Colton Buckley has done none of the above. That’s not leadership, that’s cowardice.
Unless willing to back up the claim of a sex tape involving a candidate with actual proof, it is beneath any sensible human being to even raise such a silly issue. And yes, it is libelous. I would say that Buckley should be sued, but he’s such an insignificant dolt that it wouldn’t be worth the trouble. Furthermore, he isn’t worthy of being given a platform to spout his nuttiness. Just let his stupid rhetoric fade into the sunset.
As for the real issue (since Buckley just isn’t that important), can anyone actually defend Miller’s conduct? Basically the defense I’ve heard is “Mark McCaig works for Steve Mostyn, so Sid hasn’t done anything wrong.” Nonsense. Did Miller really charge his campaign interest? If he did, that is illegal and spectacularly unethical. Anytime a donor wants to pay a politician off personally, the politician could simply loan his campaign money, accept a campaign contribution from a special interest group or lobbyist, and then pay himself back with interest, thereby funneling (essentially laundering) the contribution to himself. Surely anybody with a brain can see why that’s a problem.
Frankly, we should be thanking McCaig for figuring this out. I’d rather hear about it now when we can vote for another Republican than having it come out in the general election campaign and risk giving Democrats their first statewide victory in 20 years.