HOUSTON — Outgoing Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced Thursday that she has asked the Texas Attorney General’s Office to take over a public corruption case involving some former staffers in Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s office. 

What You Need To Know

  • The case stems from allegations that three members of Hidalgo’s staff manipulated the bidding process for a COVID-19 vaccine community outreach program in order to make sure the project went to Elevate Strategies, a one-person organization run by a political consultant with ties to Democratic officials

  • Prosecutors allege that the staffers recommended Elevate Strategies to Hidalgo “despite other entities achieving higher scores on internal evaluations,” according to a news release from the attorney general’s office

  • The contract was nearly $11 million. It was later canceled by Hidalgo, who said there was nothing improper about the contract, but it had become too political

  • Hidalgo criticized the move by Ogg on Thursday, claiming that the case was purely political

The case stems from allegations that three members of Hidalgo’s staff manipulated the bidding process for a COVID-19 vaccine community outreach program in order to make sure the project went to Elevate Strategies, a one-person organization run by a political consultant with ties to Democratic officials. 

Prosecutors allege that the staffers recommended Elevate Strategies to Hidalgo “despite other entities achieving higher scores on internal evaluations,” according to a news release from the attorney general’s office. The staffers are also accused of waiving financial fitness requirements and sharing details of the bid to the organization before it was made public. 

The contract was nearly $11 million. It was later canceled by Hidalgo, who said there was nothing improper about the contract, but it had become too political. 

The staffers were indicted in 2022 on bid-rigging charges.

“Our prosecutors and investigators are the best in the State. They handle every case with utmost professionalism. In this case as in all others, we will seek truth and justice,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a statement.

Hidalgo posted a statement on X, formerly Twitter, responding to Ogg’s decision to turn over the case to the state. 

“I’m not surprised at all, just even more disappointed. DA Ogg showed us months ago the political nature of her work when she secretly hired the general counsel of the Texas Republican Party as the lead prosecutor—all during my re-election [in 2022],” said Hidalgo. “In her parting days, DA Ogg has sealed her legacy by sending this vendetta to [Paxton] who is constantly engaged in political attacks against me and Harris County.”

Hidalgo specifically cited Paxton’s current case against Harris County’s guaranteed income program, saying it shows his “lack of impartiality” toward Texas’ most-populated county. 

Paxton sued the county for its “Uplift Harris” program—which would give roughly 2,000 low-income residents $500 a month—saying it violated the Texas Constitution. The program is currently on hold after the Texas Supreme Court ordered the county to pause it while the court debates its legality. 

Ogg lost her reelection bid to be the county’s top prosecutor after she was defeated in March’s Democratic primary by former prosecutor Sean Teare by a 3-to-1 margin. Hidalgo backed Teare.