Abbott’s Elon Musk Records Sought in Election Rival’s Suit (1) – USFTB

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is refusing to turn over more than a thousand pages of unredacted communications with billionaire Elon Musk, his Democratic opponent for governor said in a lawsuit.

State Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D) said Abbott won’t make the records available for inspection even though she’s entitled to them for legislative purposes.

“The relevant communications bear directly on many matters within the Legislature’s responsibility, including state incentives, state grants, broadband deployment, public beach access, environmental impact, AI, and data center development,” Hinojosa said in the Monday state court lawsuit.

Hinojosa, whose term ends in January, is seeking an immediate ruling that she’s entitled to the records.

The lawsuit in Travis County, which Hinojosa represents in the legislature, falls on the first day of early voting in the Nov. 3 election. Hinojosa, despite lacking Abbott’s vast campaign warchest, is polling near even with the three-term incumbent in a race that appears to be in play in deep-red Texas.

In a statement, Abbott’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, called the lawsuit “baseless and nothing more than an act of desperation.” He accused Hinojosa of abusing her office “to generate headlines for political purposes.”

Musk, the world’s richest person, has chosen Texas as the headquarters or corporate home for much of his business empire, including SpaceX, Starlink, Tesla, X, and the Boring Company.

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Abbott has appeared with him at a number of public events and, in September 2021, the governor stated publicly he spoke with Musk “frequently.” In May, Musk gave his re-election campaign $500,000.

Hinojosa’s demand mirrors a largely unsuccessful records request for Abbott-Musk communication from a media organization last year. Abbott’s office produced 1,374 pages to the requester, the Texas Newsroom, but all but 200 were redacted or completely blacked out as he cited disclosure exceptions including that the information sought was “intimate and embarrassing,” the lawsuit said.

Hinojosa said she submitted the request Sept. 29 and offered Abbott until Oct. 13 to let her inspect them. She said she’ll follow the law prohibiting her from releasing the contents of the materials, which she’d get only because of her role as a lawmaker, the lawsuit said.

Hinojosa is represented by Feldman and Feldman PC and Herring & Panzer LLP.

The case is Hinojosa v. Abbott, Tex. Dist. Ct., No. D-1-GN-26-010394, 10/19/26.