A dark-money group formed by twice-failed mayoral candidate Greg Brockhouse spent money in support of a South Texas congressman whose Laredo home and office were raided by the FBI this week.
Brockhouse, who says he left the Voter Education Foundation last year, said he was unaware of any connection between the secretive group and an ongoing FBI investigation of U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat whose district stretches from Laredo to San Antonio. Tom Marks, a San Antonio-based GOP operative who replaced Brockhouse on the group’s board last year, likewise said he didn’t know of any links.
Another officer of the group is Colin Strother, a longtime aide of Cuellar’s who was paid to consult on the congressman’s re-election campaign as recently as August, Federal Election Commission records show. Strother was an officer of the foundation when Brockhouse created it in September 2020. Last month, the foundation — a a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that does not disclose its donors — ran a TV ad attacking Jessica Cisneros, Cuellar’s primary challenger, as the “South Texas Jobs Grinch,” Marks confirmed.
Online publication The Intercept first reported the link between Strother and the dark-money group. ABC News reported Friday the FBI search of Cuellar’s home and campaign office is related to the former Soviet state of Azerbaijan.
Strother did not return a text message Friday. A prolific user of Twitter, he recently deactivated his account.
Marks said not all of the foundation’s activities were authorized by every board member.
FILE – U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, speaks during a press conference at the southern border at the Humanitarian Respite Center, July 19, 2019 in McAllen, Texas. (Delcia Lopez/The Monitor via AP, File)
Delcia Lopez, MBI / Associated Press“While we’re all on the same board, there is a looseness to it,” he said. “Every board member can make deposits. Every board member can do ads, can essentially do work on behalf of the entity. To my knowledge, Colin was no longer affiliated with Cuellar’s campaign” when the group attacked Cisneros.
Election law forbids dark-money groups from coordinating with candidates.
Brockhouse, who has worked as a political consultant for years, said he formed the foundation to “advocate local issues” not long after his first failed attempt to unseat Mayor Ron Nirenberg in 2019.
“I had an attorney put it together in the hopes of beginning to do issues-based advocacy,” he said. “I just felt like people are going to want to donate to certain causes. If you don’t have the money to put the message out, nothing’s going to happen. Like zero. (Political action committees) are a completely legal tool, and I went through the proper channels with an attorney to set it up.”
Brockhouse never used his new foundation for any purpose, he said.
“I never did anything,” he said. “I decided I was running for mayor, and I didn’t want any perceived conflict of interest when I was running for mayor, so I backed out of it and that was it.”
Marks said he replaced Brockhouse on the group’s board in 2021. Later in the year, Brockhouse lost to Nirenberg a second time.
Until recently, Marks was chief of staff for Bexar County Commissioner Trish DeBerry, who announced last month she is vacating her Precinct 3 seat to run for county judge. Precinct chairs will select who will be on the ballot to replace DeBerry in the November election.
Brockhouse said he is interested in her seat.
“I’m going to look at it,” he said. “I carry a lot of name ID, and I have a lot of positive relationships and strengths in the party. I think I would do exceptionally well.”
Brockhouse distanced himself and DeBerry from the dark-money group he created less than two years ago.
“We don’t know what they’re up to,” Brockhouse said. “We’re not involved in it by any means. I was — thank god — smart enough to get out of it a year ago when I decided to do something else. But there’s nothing wrong with political action committees.
“I’ve obviously talked to Tom and Colin,” he added. “I think what’s happening here, what’s happening with the congressman is separate from the (c)(4). I have no concerns about my friends or the legalities of what they’re doing.”
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