Royce West baggage, the latest and greatest

I have repeatedly mentioned the "baggage" that Royce West would carry into this race. Well, his financial disclosures show yet more of that. He's worth between $9-$28 million, and — shades of Tony Sanchez — runs a tax consulting company in partnership with the company of GOP megadonor G. Brint Ryan.

Who? The Trib explains:

Ryan is a multi-millionaire Dallas tax consultant and CEO of Ryan LLC. He and his company’s political action committees have poured millions into the coffers of state and federal campaigns and political causes — mostly benefiting GOP candidates — including over $100,000 to the Republican National Committee and the party’s congressional fundraising arm since Donald Trump was elected president, according to state and federal filings. 

Ryan also served as a tax adviser to Trump during the 2016 campaign and his company paid the $100,000 fee for Donald Trump Jr.’s controversial 2017 speech at the University of North Texas, where Ryan serves on the system’s board of regents, according to published reports. Ryan’s state PACs have given West at least $37,000 for his Texas Senate campaigns since 2006, state filings show.

That's PLENTY of oops right there.

Being in bed with a Trumper in this election is HORRIBLE optics. And, there's no Eddie Bernice Johnson to bail him out on this one, and it's not a local race. The Trib notes that federal election reporting requirements (didn't Julian Castro a few weeks ago teach you that?) are much stricter than the Tom DeLay bullshit here in Texas.

But, but, that's not all.

West reported a 40 percent stake in RyanWest LLC, which touts itself as a minority-owned company. As a partner in the firm, he also reported receiving $20,800 over the period covered by the federal report. It’s not clear who else has an ownership stake in the firm.

It IS clear to these eyeballs, though, that that's a violation of the spirit of minority-owned companies, unless other minorities own 11 percent AND were not fronted ownership money by Royce.

The Trib also notes that some of West’s financial filings conflict with other financial filings.

Oh? He and his staff also engaged in the self-inflicted wound of “not returning phone calls.”

If that, plus what I've linked about West's connections to the Dallas Inland Port shenanigans, his abandonment of South Dallas development after he got his UNT-Dallas built and other things isn't enough? If the Trib's federal campaign filing analysis isn't enough?

A full decade ago, Jim Schutze had a laundry list of All Things Royce in the ethics world. That, in turn, leads me to the question of whether money or power motivates him more.

Of course, should he run the gantlet of the Democratic primary successfully AND topple John Cornyn in the general, he'll have less of either. He'll be a first-term backbencher, one of 100 rather than one of 31. He'll have to be a full-time Congresscritter, not a part-time Legiscritter with a grifting (for both power and money) law office. All of his current legal clients among school districts would likely drop him like a hot potato if having him on retainer threatened federal education funds for them.

I’ll give you 50-50 odds that Royce West turns out to be the Loopy Lupe Valdez of the 2020 primary. The difference is that, with credible opponents, he’s not getting the nomination.