Texas state Rep. Kyle Biedermann, a Trump-aligned Republican in the Texas House who was spotted in Washington DC during the deadly riot on Capitol Hill, has refused to release public emails from the dates surrounding his trip to the infamous Donald Trump’s “stop the steal” rally.
The Jan. 6 rally immediately preceded a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that has led to hundreds of federal charges and a massive FBI investigation.
After the siege, Biedermann downplayed the deadly riot during a talk-radio appearance, saying that he attended Trump rally in DC on the day of the deadly insurrection because he and other Trump supporters “wanted to be heard.”
His comments prompted the KSAT12 Defenders to request a copy of all emails sent to and from his Texas House of Representatives email address between Dec. 10, 2020, and Jan. 11, 2021.
Under Texas law, email inboxes maintained by taxpayer-funded government agencies, including the Texas Legislature, are public.
Biedermann responded to the request in late January claiming the office had nothing responsive to release.
After the Defenders challenged the claim that Biedermann had not received or sent any emails during those 30-plus days, Dyer responded that it is not the office’s policy to disclose information that is confidential by law. Dyer then cited two sections from the Texas Government Code.
However, email records for the inbox of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, obtained by the Defenders through an open records request, show that Biederman did indeed receive an email during that time period.
The Defenders have filed a complaint against Biedermann’s office with the attorney general’s office over the refusal to release the emails.
