Texans for Public Justice (TPJ) is an

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

-based non-profit group founded in 1997 to take on

political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, influen ...

and

corporate abuses Abuse is the act of improper usage or treatment of a person or thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States. Their early focus was on tracking campaign contributions in Texas and elsewhere, including contributions to

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

's campaign in the 2000 and 2004 US presidential elections. The group lodged the original complaints which led to the now overturned conviction of former US Representative

Tom Delay Thomas Dale DeLay (; born April 8, 1947) is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, DeLay represented Texas's 22nd congress ...

, as well as former Texas Governor

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 in the first administration of Donald Trump. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas fr ...

's August 2014 felony indictment. It has been accused of being "funded by out-of-state foundations and rich individuals to specialize in "

lawfare Lawfare is the use of legal systems and institutions to affect foreign or domestic affairs, as a more peaceful and rational alternative, or as a less benign adjunct, to warfare. Detractors have alternately begun to define the phrase as, "An att ...

" against state officials of whose policies they disapprove". Craig McDonald, a Michigan native, founded the organization and is its current Director. He began his career on the political left via the public interest movement in the late-1970s working as a

community organizer Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote more-consensual community buil ...

. Working for Ralph Nader's Public Citizen activist group in 1984, he went on to create the Texas office of Public Citizen in that same year. According to TPJ, its board of directors includes, in addition to McDonald, two other veterans of Nader's Public Citizen; a former aide to the late Texas Democratic Gov. Ann Richards who was also a Clinton-Gore organizer; and a journalist who "has written for numerous progressive publications." McDonald claims that TPJ only reveals its institutional funders and doesn't reveal its individual supporters for fear of political retaliation. He said he doesn't consider that policy in conflict with the group's work in highlighting the impact of money in politics. The group receives monies from

George Soros George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...

Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the s ...

, the Piper Foundation, the

Sunlight Foundation The Sunlight Foundation was an American 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocated for open government. The organization was founded in April 2006 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States ...

, the Winkler Family Foundation, and Good Jobs First. Its 2005 tax return showed "Texas trial lawyers as major contributors."

References

External links

* {{Authority control Non-profit organizations based in Texas Political corruption in the United States Organizations established in 1997 Campaign finance reform in the United States 1997 establishments in Texas