Florida, Texas, and federal authorities must start protecting the public from James Dunn, criminal GOP/CCDF political consultant

The most recent outrage to come to light is Dunn's recent grifting of Houston's Community Temple Church of God in Christ as he was racking up $310K in PPP loans for six different "companies."

What follows is a real quote from a real statement issued July 14th by the so-called “County Citizens Defending Freedom,” a Florida-based group similar to “Moms For Liberty” and other anarchic, alt-right, menace-based “political” activists.

It concerns James Dunn, the Angleton, Texas-based convicted criminal fraud CCDF recruited to run its “unofficial” slate of anti-public education school board candidates in Polk County, Florida.

Dr. Dunn did his time, and upon the release of his imprisonment, he went on to obtain his doctorate degree, was hired as a principal, and selected by the state of Texas to sit on several boards.

We believe that this sets a wonderful example for the minority community of redemption and success coming out of our correctional system. We consider this to be the ideal goal for our correctional institutions, to bring correction and transformation. There are no ongoing investigations, charges, or criminal lawsuits. The case is closed, and the outcome of his life is what we would consider to be a best-case scenario.

In reality, the supposedly transformed Dunn, whose six “companies” got roughly $310,000 in questionable PPP loans in 2020 and 2021, is openly defying a Texas court order concerning his very recent shameless grifting of a Houston church.

Dunn lost a civil trial and was ordered to pay Community Temple Church of God In Christ of Houston $21,293 in August 2021 for defrauding it. Dunn lost his appeal in December 2021, less than a year ago.

Dunn still has not complied with the court order and repaid the church, Bishop Kurt Thompson of Community Temple told me Saturday. “He hasn’t paid us a dime,” Thompson said, adding that other churches have been victimized, too. We’ll come back to that in a future article.

Moreover, Community Temple reported Dunn’s grifting to the Harris County DA in 2019. “They said, ‘we’re not interested in this’,” Bishop Thompson told me.

A “wonderful example”

Before we get to the timeline, note the part of the CCDF quote I highlighted in bold for a moment.

We believe that this sets a wonderful example for the minority community of redemption and success coming out of our correctional system.

If you are a “minority,” Steve Maxwell and Hannah Peterson and Terry Clark and Rick Nolte and Jill Sessions and Ed Shoemaker and J.C. Martin and the rest of the Polk County GOP’s insane, goofy, malevolent, CCDF fascist wing thinks you should consider James Dunn a “wonderful example” of “redemption.”

Let that wash over you as you read what comes next. This is what they think of you. I’ll publish the full CCDF statement at the bottom of this article.

Now, here’s a brief timeline of Dunn’s grifting of Houston’s Community Temple Church of God in Christ, intertwined with the five six emergency PPP loans his “companies” received over roughly the same time period and his emergence in Polk County with the CCDF.

My deep dive on the PPP loans themselves can be found here.

This particular Dunn church grift timeline that follows is unrelated to Dunn’s earlier criminal fraud against veterans, people with disabilities, and the federal government that sent Dunn to prison for 33 months after 2009 conviction.

Indeed, Bishop Thompson told me, sadly, that the church did not know Dunn is a convicted criminal fraud at the time they entered into business with him.

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April 17, 2019

The Community Temple Church of God In Christ in Houston enters into a contract with James Dunn to “facilitate” a $5 million grant for “construction or non-construction services.” The church paid Dunn $13,000 while never receiving any services.

December 12, 2019

The church sends a letter to James Dunn in his capacity as “executive managing director” of “Brazoria County Alternative Academy Inc.” You can see the full letter at the end of this article. It demanded that Dunn produce evidence he had done any work. And it noted the church’s consultation with Harris County, Texas prosecutors:

…evidence substantiating your claim of our approval of a grant in the amount of $981,000 and for you to produce signed contract(s), appraisals, contractor bids and other documentation that we have paid for to the time of nearly $13,000…

…Further, all text messages and emails from you related to this matter will be forwarded to the Harris County DA that has recommended to us that this letter of demand [be] written.

April 29, 2020

Community Temple Church sues two of Dunn’s companies — “Brazoria County Alternative Academy Inc.” and “2D Development LLC” — to recover damages for the money it spent on the grant contract. Both companies would receive PPP loans. In total, at least five Dunn-connected entities received forgivable PPP loans totaling $286K in 2020 and 2021.

April 30, 2020

Literally the day after Community Temple filed suit against Dunn’s 2D Development LLC, the federal government approves a $61,242 emergency PPP loan for 2D Development LLC,” which is said to provide “vocational rehabilitation services.”

It is unclear why Dunn did not use 2D Development’s $61,242 PPP loan to pay help back the $13,000 he owed the church.

May 1, 2020

Literally two days after Community Temple filed suit, the federal government approved a $125,000 PPP loan to James Dunn’s “sole proprietorship.”

It is unclear why Dunn did not use the $125,000 to help pay back the $13,000 owed to Community Temple.

Also on May 1, 2020

Literally two days after Community Temple filed suit, the federal government approved a $23,716 PPP loan for Renfro Management in Pearland, Texas, which is also in Brazoria County. Dunn is listed as Renfro’s agent and manager. Wells Fargo serviced the loan. This is the third different bank Dunn’s companies have used to service the three different loans.

Let me restate this: James Dunn and his companies enjoyed a two-day federal government windfall of almost $212,000 in free PPP money. And he did not use any of it to pay off the $13,000 he owed the church that had just sued him for grifting them. Dunn failed to pay his debt to the church despite the fact that he is a convicted fraud felon, who had been notified in writing by the church that they had reported him to Harris County prosecutors.

Let that marinate for a second. And then ask yourself: is this sheer psychotic self-destructiveness; or did Dunn, with reason, expect total impunity from the bounds of decent society? As much as it pains me to say it, the evidence right now points to impunity. I’m trying to change that.

Federal authorities, and state authorities in Florida and Texas, need to start protecting the public from this person immediately. Period.

Feb. 20, 2021

The federal government approves a PPP loan for another Dunn company, “Gulf Coast Community Action Agency Inc.,” for $37,500. This loan is serviced by Regions Bank, which is the fourth different bank his companies have used for his four PPP loans. But he’ll go back to Regions Bank a couple months later for two more.

April 30, 2021

The federal government approves a $62,500 PPP loan for Dunn’s “Brazoria County Alternative Academy,” the exact same company Community Temple sued.

It is unclear why BCAA did not use the $62,500 in free federal government money to pay the church the debt it owed.

Also on April 30, 2021

The federal government approves a $62,500 PPP loan for Dunn’s “Black Republicans of Brazoria County” to supposedly support six jobs. However, BRBC is a “charity” that files the 990-N electronic form with the IRS. It is capped, by law, at $50,000 in annual revenue. The only known source of income for BRBC, at this point, is a $15,750 donation from Texas state Rep. David Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston County in January of 2022. See article here.

August 11, 2021

The Community Temple Church case goes to trial before Judge Kyle Carter. Bishop Thompson told me the church did not know Dunn was a convicted felon when it entered into the “grant” agreement with him, but did learn in time to ask about it at trial. Dunn repeatedly refused to answer yes or no when asked under oath if he’d ever been convicted of defrauding the federal government.

August 17, 2021

Judge Carter finds for the church and issues a $21,293 judgement in the church’s favor. Carter imposed court costs and attorney fees on Dunn’s companies.

Sept. 10, 2021

Dunn appeals Judge Carter’s verdict and order. But he seems to have never actually attempted to pursue the appeal in litigation.

Dec. 7, 2021

The First District Court of Appeals in Texas throws out Dunn’s companies’ appeals, citing failure to “adequately respond.”

January 2, 2022

As Dunn defies a court order to pay back the church he defrauded, Texas GOP state Rep. David Mayes Middleton donates $15,000 to Black Republicans of Brazoria County.

January 27, 2022

Middleton donates $500 to Black Republicans of Brazoria County. These are the only known sources of revenue for Black Republicans of Brazoria County before or after it received the $62,500 PPP loan.

February 19, 2022

James Dunn attends the Brazoria County Republican Party’s “Lincoln Reagan Day” dinner. It’s $75 per person, $100 for VIP.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is the keynote speaker and posed with Dunn for this picture.

February 25, 2022

The Texas Appeals Court issues a “mandate” that “commands” Dunn to obey their order.

According to Bishop Thompson, Dunn continues to openly defy the court order as of today, July 16, 2022.

April 21, 2022

The Houston Chronicle (paywall) and Houston NPR publish stories about James Dunn’s campaign client David Hamilton, who was running for a seat on the Houston-area Fort Bend ISD School Board. Hamilton

David Hamilton, who is running for Fort Bend ISD School Board Position 7, posted multiple tweets accusing Democrats of trying to “sexualize kindergarteners” because of opposition to a Florida bill prohibiting some schools from teaching sexual orientation and gender identity.

One of the tweets included the so-called “bed intruder” meme, which features a Black man being interviewed by a television anchor after a home invasion. The meme sparked a debate over race in media after going viral in 2010. The tweet has since been deleted.

June 16, 2022

The CCDF holds a podcast with James Dunn they title: “There’s no room for second place….How Conservatives Win School Board Races by Dr. Dunn”

See/listen to the podcast here if you can stomach it.

To my knowledge, the CCDF has not yet held a podcast titled: “How Conservatives Grift Churches and Defy Court Orders in the Name of Freedom.”

June 24, 2022

Dunn organizes and promotes a “Meet and Greet” with the CCDF’s unofficial slate of Polk County, Florida School Board candidates — Jill Sessions, Rick Nolte, and Terry Clark.

Justin Sharpless does not attend — and he has made efforts to distance himself from the CCDF slate, even though the CCDF-universe considers him part of the slate.

July 14, 2022

After news of Dunn’s criminality and grifting starts to break, the CCDF issues a long statement of support. Partial image above. As noted before, the CCDF calls Dunn a “wonderful example” to the “minority community.”

We believe that this sets a wonderful example for the minority community of redemption and success coming out of our correctional system. We consider this to be the ideal goal for our correctional institutions, to bring correction and transformation. There are no ongoing investigations, charges, or criminal lawsuits. The case is closed, and the outcome of his life is what we would consider to be a best-case scenario.

A genuine menace to society — stop him

I sincerely believe James Dunn is the most personally, malevolently dangerous person I have ever written about, whether or not he had anything to do with casing my house. Everything he seems to touch turns to grift that harms people.

The CCDF inflicted this one-man wave of criminality, grift, menace, and contempt for law and institutions on all of Polk County, whatever your party. The CCDF sees this person as a moral “example” and a tool to get close to your children and your tax money.

Every candidate using Dunn should quit the race immediately and apologize. Steve Maxwell, Hannah Peterson, and anyone associated with CCDF should be shunned by society and driven from public life.

I am not kidding.

And law enforcement in Texas, Florida, and the federal government needs to step the hell the up to protect society from this person. I am hopeful this happening in Polk; but hope is not action.

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Here is the letter to Dunn from Community Temple Church:

Here is the August 17, 2021 court judgment against two Dunn’s PPP companies:

And here is the CCDF statement about Dunn and his politics.

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