Republican activist Stephen Hotze asked a federal judge to step in on a civil case against him, saying the lawsuit was part of a Democrat-led conspiracy.
Hotze on Dec. 31 asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to issue injunctions that would delay a February trial over the lawsuit accusing him of instigating a 2021 assault and false imprisonment of an air conditioner repairman. A man who worked for Hotze’s Liberty Center for God and County was following the repairman as a part Hotze’s investigation of supposed ballot harvesting during the 2020 election.
The new lawsuit accused former District Attorney Kim Ogg of “conspiring” with private attorneys to use the civil lawsuit to obtain evidence that was later used to bring felony charges against Hotze.
The DA’s office hadn’t responded to Hotze’s lawsuit as of Thursday morning.
“[Hotze] was only criminally prosecuted due to his political views and the fact that Liberty Center was investigating voter fraud in an election where the Democrats were successful,” Hotze’s lawyer, Jared Woodfill, wrote in the filing.
It’s Hotze’s latest claim that the criminal and civil cases brought against him are part of a vast conspiracy.
Hotze accused the district attorney’s office of violating his rights to free speech and equal treatment under the law, and circumventing his protections against self-incrimination. The lawsuit seeks damages and asks for a restraining order stopping the DA’s office and other, unnamed people from participating in the civil trial before the criminal case against him is completed.
The state lawsuit brought by the repairman, David Lopez, is scheduled to go to trial Feb. 17, according to court records.
Hotze’s lawsuit accuses Ogg of targeting him for “exposing voter fraud,” in Harris County and claims the lawyers representing Lopez are connected to the Texas Democratic Party. Hotze claims he participated in discovery for Lopez’s lawsuit while being unaware he was under criminal investigation
See here for the most recent update. Don’t try to make sense of any of this, Hotze was brain-wormed before brain-worming was cool. I will admit that I thought the criminal case would come first, mostly because a conviction would greatly strengthen the civil case, but there’s no reason why it has to.
My take on this is simple: Hotze knows he’s guilty as hell, and he’s going to get creamed in the civil case. As such, he will do anything to put off that day of reckoning, in the hope that some deus will come ex machina-ing and save his sorry ass. I look forward to seeing the civil case begin next month. Reform Austin has more.
I am rooting so hard for Mr. Lopez. Accountability is in such short supply these days, so it sure would be nice to see some.