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North Texas GOP member calls for House Speaker to resign

"Honesty, accountability and sound judgment have been lost," says state Rep. Tan Parker.

State Rep. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, is calling on Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen to resign.

Parker was the only North Texan among the 10 GOP members that Bonnen, R-Angleton, and former House Republican Caucus chair Dennis Burrows, R-Lubbock, suggested a conservative activist should target in 2020 primaries, to prevent their reelection.

The activist, Michael Quinn Sullivan of Empower Texans, secretly recorded the meeting with Bonnen and Burrows and published what he says is an unedited version of the audio recording on Tuesday.

Bonnen had previously preached party loyalty and publicly pledged not to campaign against sitting House members. 

But on the tape, at Bonnen's urging, Burrows listed members who had voted against a bill the two backed. 

"I still have the same ten moderate Republicans who don't want to help on anything, I'm still unable to do what you and I would want done," Bonnen said, when asking Sullivan to leave certain races alone and focus his energy and money on beating members who weren't voting conservatively enough.

"What was said on the audio recording directly conflicts with the values of the Republican Party and also the bylaws we agreed upon as members of the Texas House Republican Caucus," Parker's statement begins. 

"I believe the release of the audio recording provides moral clarity for every Texas House member and substantiates the fact there was a list of targeted members provided by Speaker Dennis Bonnen and Representative Dustin Burrows. 

"If we cannot honor our commitments as elected officials between each other, I am not sure how the Texas House upholds the trust of the people of Texas. Honesty, accountability and sound judgment have been lost and instead replaced with finger pointing to absolve responsibility. We need to restore the confidence in leadership, and I believe Speaker Bonnen should resign in order for the House to heal and move forward."

Bonnen was also heard on the tape offering Sullivan media credentials to access the floor of the House of Representatives in exchange for the help in fighting against certain members' reelection. 

The Texas Rangers have been asked to investigate whether that offer from Bonnen constituted an illegal quid pro quo.

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