Greg Abbott Uses Vague Privacy Protections to Keep “Intimate and Embarrassing” Elon Musk Emails Hidden [Dallas Morning News]

DALLAS, TX – Earlier this week, career politician Greg Abbott continued his fight to keep the public from seeing 1,400 emails he exchanged with trillionaire Elon Musk that he himself called “intimate and embarrassing.”

In a blistering piece published Sunday, the Dallas Morning News editorial board slammed Abbott for abusing the law to keep the records hidden, writing:

“Open records law is meaningless if we broadly apply a standard of privacy to public matters that plainly pertains to most intimate and personal concerns that have nothing to do with public business. We can only believe the governor and Musk don’t share such secrets, and that their business is the people’s business.”

Now, two days before Texans decide if Abbott deserves four more years, he’s fighting to keep the public from seeing a draft agenda showing state officials planned to discuss the potential sale of more than 1,000 acres of public land at Boca Chica State Park to Elon Musk, his largest campaign donor this cycle, after the Nov. 3 election.

According to new reporting from The Texas Tribune, Abbott’s Parks and Wildlife Department drafted the agenda for a meeting that included a closed-door discussion about giving up state control of the land in Cameron County.

While the agenda item was subsequently removed, the Tribune reports that Abbott’s administration is now asking corrupt AG Ken Paxton to block the public release of the draft records altogether to keep the public in the dark about the plans.

Abbott’s sudden request of Paxton right before the election follows reporting from Texas Monthly that confirmed Abbott’s administration was actively set to discuss the sale of Boca Chica to Musk’s SpaceX post-election. 

Since then, neither Abbott or his administration have denied the sale, only saying it won’t come up “anytime soon.” At the same time, Musk has contributed more than $5 million to Abbott’s re-election, making him Abbott’s single largest donor this election.

“What is Greg Abbott so afraid of? If there’s not going to be a sale, then there shouldn’t be an issue with Texans getting to see what is on that draft agenda. Of course, we know why he’s so desperate to keep it and all his emails with Elon Musk a secret. Days out from his toughest re-election ever, Greg Abbott doesn’t want voters to know his plan to sell beloved Texas land to the world’s richest man and his biggest donor. The only way to stop this now is to vote on Tuesday and elect Gina Hinojosa, who grew up going to Boca Chica State Park and understands that Texas land belongs to Texas – and that Texas will never be for sale,” said Texas Democratic Party Spokesman Jacob Long.