Democratic Texas State Representative Gina Hinojosa attacked the “most corrupt Governor in Texas history” on Monday, writing on social media: “A new report reveals that [Texas Governor] Greg Abbott has funneled almost a BILLION dollars in taxpayer money directly to his campaign donors.”
She added: “This is a very serious breach of the public’s trust, and Ken Paxton should open a formal investigation.” (Paxton is the Texas Attorney General, currently running for U.S. Senate.)
As seen in the video below, Hinojosa emphasized that the report, which was published by independent watchdog group Public Citizen, revealed that “Abbott has given almost a billion dollars in no bid contracts to his donors,” and that “the largest contract went to this company called, I kid you not, Gothams Corporation, which received, itself, almost a billion dollars in no bid contracts after giving about $600,000 to the governor’s re-elect committee.”
[NOTE: Public Citizen has a litigation arm that has filed several lawsuits against the Trump administration.]
BREAKING: A new report reveals that Greg Abbott has funneled almost a BILLION dollars in taxpayer money directly to his campaign donors.
This is a very serious breach of the public’s trust, and Ken Paxton should open a formal investigation. pic.twitter.com/4C453dOpUd
— Gina Hinojosa (@GinaForAustin) September 29, 2025
According to the Public Citizen ‘Awarding Influence’ report cited by Hinojosa, Gothams — an emergency management company that responds to natural disasters and border security crises — has received 48 non-competitive emergency contracts from the Texas Division of Emergency Management since 2020 worth approximately $749 million.
The report says that Matthew Michelsen, founder of Gothams, started to contribute to ‘Texans for Greg Abbott’ in 2022, including five contributions of $50,000 each between August and October of that year.
LMFAO! https://t.co/eIxNjYBU4T
— Matt Michelsen (@MCMichelsen) January 23, 2023
Hinojosa says Abbott is able to distribute the contracts without regulatory friction “because every month since 2020, Governor Abbott has waived competitive bidding laws on emergency executive orders.”
[NOTE: Public Citizen reports that Gothams “contracts were procured under various emergency declarations, including the COVID-19 declaration, the border security declaration, and the Hurricane Beryl declaration.”]
The State Representative explained: “Competitive bidding laws are in place to protect Texas taxpayers from waste, fraud and abuse, and a pay-to-play system that Governor Abbott has now created in the state of Texas.”
Hinojosa is calling on Attorney General Paxton to investigate whether any criminal laws have been violated by Greg Abbott’s abuse of his emergency powers. (Abbott and Paxton often find themselves on the same side in legal battles [against Democrats], but have a relationship that has been described as “strained.”)
Hinojosa added, “This is not politics as usual. This is a level of corruption in the likes of which we have not seen in modern history in Texas, by a governor who has established himself as the most corrupt governor in Texas history.”
[NOTE: Given current Texas law it’s not clear that Abbott is guilty of anything Paxton might prosecute or a court would find, but Hinojosa — even as she namechecks the Attorney General — appears to be seeking to try this case in the court of public opinion, where the definition of “corruption” is often interpreted more broadly.]
Gothams is not the only contractor Public Citizen mentions links to Abbott donations; the report also names Doggett Equipment Services Group, HNTB Holdings, Abbott Laboratories, Deloitte LLP, Enterprise Mobility, McKesson Corporation, and Motorola Solutions.
Noting rules that regulate political contributions by government contractors and bidders in other states, “politically blue and red,” Public Citizen places the Texas situation in relief by contrasting it with states like Kentucky and Ohio.
“In Kentucky,” the report says, “neither an elected official nor their appointees may award a non-competitive contracts to an entity whose officers and employees, as well as their immediate family, have made political contributions to that elected official of more than $5,000 in the previous election cycle.”
By contrast, Public Citizen reports that “Texas places no limits on campaign contributions, meaning corporations and individuals are free to contribute as much as they are willing to spend, allowing for some of the massive contributions we see here.”