“The reports cite a hotel elevator video showing that when the woman tried to make a call, the two struggled over her cellphone until Hiles threw the woman ‘to the floor and began stomping the phone.’ The video, parts of which were viewed by The News, shows Hiles trying to take the phone away and in the tussle, pushing her to the floor.”
“The woman reported that once they were in their hotel room, Hiles punched her, dragged her by the hair and then choked her into unconsciousness. She told police she thought she was going to die.”
Once the news that Abbott’s third largest contributor and exclusive member of his 40 person Inauguration Committee pled guilty to domestic assault, the Governor’s office was forced to surrender over $500,000 in campaign contributions by Hiles made during the 2014 election cycle alone. It wasn’t only Abbott who had to return six figure campaign donations from the Grand Prairie developer – Lt. Governor Dan Patrick had to give up $150,000 and ask Hiles to resign from the Lt. Governor’s official Tax Policy Advisory Board where he was appointed just weeks ago.
The problems for Texas and national Republicans, however, goes beyond Christy Hoppe’s story yesterday. Today, the Houston Chronicle reported that a number of other high ranking statewide Republicans rushed to return Hiles’ toxic campaign donations. Among those forced to shed funds were Attorney General Ken Paxton, Land Commissioner George P. Bush, and the much-touted women’s outreach arm of the Texas GOP, Red State Women.
Who has not yet surrendered Hiles’ money? Senator John Cornyn, Congressman Pete Sessions, Rick Perry, Karl Rove’s American Crossroads Super PAC, all three Republican national campaign committees and many other GOP candidates and PACs took Hiles’ money and have yet to announce any intention to give it up.
