The James Dunn files: Why is Texas' GOP education elite so deeply entangled with an outlandishly anti-social convicted felon?

Dunn's roster of public allies includes: Gov. Greg Abbott, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath, voucher hawk Rep. Mayes Middleton, BoE Member-elect Julie Pickren, and Abbott-appointee Kendall Baker. Why?

There are many images in this article; and it will likely truncate in email. So please click through to the site itself if you get cut off — link available here. Also, you can find a massive Dunn-related timeline at this link. Feel free to use it as a resource. I’m not even trying to send it via email.

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Texas-based convicted felon and well-connected GOP campaign consultant James Dunn is the most blatantly criminal and anti-social political character I have ever covered in almost 30 years of paid and unpaid reporting. I have written nearly 50 articles about Dunn and his gross Florida school board candidates since I became aware of him in late June. See an overarching summary of my work and Florida-based Dunn timeline here.

But I only recently came across a 2013 statement from Assistant U.S. Attorney Quincy L. Ollison, arguing against Dunn’s request for a reduced sentence for Texas-based federal crimes. By this time, Dunn had been in federal prison for three-and-a-half years on two different Houston area fraud schemes involving people with disabilities and veterans, respectively.

… defendant claims that he has achieved “exemplary post sentencing rehabilitation.” However, it is clear to this AUSA that defendant has not been rehabilitated in the least; rather, he is up to his old behavior of devising every common scheme or device he can to minimize the punishment he was given based upon the seriously fraudulent conduct he committed against our country’s Veterans and the mentally challenged.

Fast forward nine years. James Dunn has proven Quincy Ollison entirely correct, leaving multiple new victims in his path — from a Houston church to a needy community to a big political spender in Florida. And that’s just what I can confirm without hedging. That’s before we talk about his six shady PPP loans.

And yet, James Dunn is also a connected GOP political operative for school races and a trainer in good standing with the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the state body that oversees public education in Texas.

Texas’ top education official and incoming board of education member make a pilgrimage to Dunn’s training

On October 14-15, 2022, despite months of Florida-based notoriety, the convicted felon Dunn hosted a training for Texas school district officials in Southlake. The guest list was small, but impressive. Its VIPs included:

• Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath, Texas’ top state education official. He gave the “keynote address.”

• Julie Pickren, who was then a candidate for the Texas Board of Education. She took part as a speaker and/or facilitator. Pickren took part in the January 6th “Stop the Steal” rally and lost re-election to the Alvin Independent School District (ISD). She went on to run for and win her state BoE election in November.

• Kendall Baker, a Dunn campaign client and Houston Independent School District (ISD) trustee, elected in December 2021. Baker was let go from his job with the City of Houston in 2014 after allegations that he lewdly solicited sex from a co-worker were found true by city investigators.

I’ve annotated a Tweet from Kendall Baker below hyping Dunn’s training and its VIPs. Alas, Baker seems to have deleted the original tweet; so I can’t link to it.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Rep. David “Mayes” Middleton, R-Wallisville did not attend the Dunn gathering in Southlake. But they might as well have.

Middleton is among the largest political donors for Kendall Baker and Julie Pickren. And he is the only publicly known source of revenue ($15,000) for James Dunn’s $62,500 PPP-loan collecting “charity” called Black Republicans of Brazoria County.

Middleton is also leading the legislative charge for vouchers in Texas. This is from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Dec. 26.

And here is James Dunn with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who is also closely connected to Dunn’s client Kendall Baker, as we’ll see in a moment.

Note Dunn’s reference to “Black Republicans of Brazoria County” in the second picture with Abbott.

Julie Pickren picks James Dunn’s Angleton for her swearing in. Will she, Morath, and big donor Mayes Middleton take pictures with *this* guy?

Texas BoE-member-elect Julie Pickren will take the oath of office January 1 in Dunn’s Brazoria County, in Dunn’s home city of Angleton.

That’s outside Pickren’s home district of Alvin. It’s not clear why she chose Dunn’s home turf rather than her own. Some reporter should go with a camera to see if Dunn, Morath, and Middleton attend. I have half a mind to jump on a plane myself. If Dunn, Middleton, and Morath don’t show up, you’ll know this story is starting to get legs.

And if the gang does get back together on New Year’s Day, will they take more pictures with this James Dunn? — the James Dunn who is all of this and more at once:

• A Texan and convicted felon sentenced to 27 months and 33 months in federal prison in 2009 and 2010 on two different federal fraud cases.

• Cheater of veterans, people with developmental disabilities, and at least one Houston-based church. The church-cheating happened in 2019 and is ongoing.

• Forger of government documents in the veterans case; seven-time filer for bankruptcy between 2002 and 2008. Barred by the federal government from filing again without permission in 2008 for failing to disclose previous filings.

• Collector, through sole proprietorship or affiliated organizations, of at least six shady emergency COVID PPP loans totaling about $310,000 in free government money. See here and here. In chronological order, with dollar amount and number of jobs claimed to be protected, they are:

  • April 30, 2020: 2D Development LLC, $61,242, “vocational rehabilitation services,” 3 jobs, Bank of America

  • May 1, 2020: James Earl Dunn, Jr., $125,000, “N/A” - no industry cited, 6 jobs, JP MorganChase

  • May 1, 2020: Renfro Management, $23,716, - no industry cited, 9 jobs, Wells Fargo

  • Feb. 20, 2021: Gulf Coast Community Action Agency Inc., $37,500, “other individual and family services,” 4 jobs, Regions Bank

  • April 30, 2021: Brazoria County Alternative Academy, $62,500, “elementary and secondary schools,” 6 jobs, Regions Bank

  • April 30, 2021: Black Republicans of Brazoria County, $62,500, “elementary and secondary schools,” 6 jobs, Regions Bank.

• Campaign consultant for gross, book-banning, LGBT-hating, fake Christian dictatorship candidates, including Kendall Baker of Houston ISD and David Hamilton of Fort Bend ISD.

• Recruited by the so-called County Citizens Defending Freedom (CCDF) from Texas to Florida in summer 2022 to run a slate of gross, book-banning, LGBT-hating, fake Christian dictatorship of candidates in Florida, mostly in Polk County. Humiliated and smashed by Florida voters, along with his candidates.

• Possibly the subject of a Polk State Attorney investigation into illegal campaign texts during the 2022 campaign. Such an investigation has been hinted at, but not confirmed or denied by Polk State’s Attorney Brian Haas.

• Recipient of endless public and media scrutiny since June from me and others in Florida for his criminal background; his ongoing public behavior/grifting throughout the election cycle; and his abject defeats.

• So deranged and quick to lie that he told the Texas Tribune a few weeks ago that he had never been to prison.

  

• A shameless “conservative” race-baiter, who routinely hurls racism accusations at people who report on his past convictions and contemporary shenanigans. He recently compared himself to Emmett Till before insulting him. Really, he did. See here.

As I said, I’ve written 50-ish articles about James Dunn and his Florida universe in six months.

My public education-supporting allies and I made him quite the scandal here in Polk County, Florida. We helped smash his gross School Board candidates in a large, fairly“red” I-4 Corridor electorate. (Something similar actually happened to Julie Pickren in her home district of Alvin after her support for January 6th become public. She lost re-election in 2021 with 42 percent of the vote. She then flew under the radar in her state race and rode “team GOP” coattails.)

Indeed, James Dunn is not yet infamous in his home state of Texas like he is in my corner of Florida. Powerful Texans have eagerly stepped into his gross world of crime and grift, rather than avoiding it. He’s been an asset, not a liability, to the Julie Pickrens and Mike Moraths and Mayes Middeltons of the world.

But in recent days, Dunn has finally become the subject of articles in the Texas Tribune and the Houston Chronicle’s “Courier of Montgomery County” — and an investigative report on Houston’s KPRC TV station.

All those reports focused narrowly on Dunn as a registered TEA trainer. But that’s just one tiny spot on the vast, tangled map of the two-state Dunn scandal.

To help advance the overall story, I’m sticking a furtive toe into the Texas politics part of this today. I fear it is quicksand; and I will never climb out of it. And yet … I can’t resist because the emerging insanity of the Texas Dunn scandal somehow makes the Florida part look charmingly provincial and innocent.

And everyone who touches Dunn — from Abbott to Morath to Middleton to Pickren — should be forced to account for him publicly.

The real story: How and why did all these voucher-supporting Texas GOP power figures come to roll with James Dunn?

How was James Dunn in a position to effectively summon the top education official in the state of Texas to give the keynote address to his grifter training in October 2022, long after his criminal background and grifting were public?

Why did Mike Morath jump when Dunn called him? Why does James Dunn — small time federal felon and grifter — exist openly as player in Texas GOP power politics?

Those unanswered questions — rather than the weird menagerie of power figures and criminal buffoonery on display at the Southlake training itself — make up the real Dunn story.

We should all be asking what insane web of influence, power-hunger, fake religious dictatorship ideology, criminality, relationships, money, incompetence, power, and sinisterness has elevated this openly criminal loser within the Texas GOP?

That’s the story; and we’re far from knowing all of it yet. But I suspect it’s anchored in this Mayes Middleton’s voucher effort — and his ability to give himself $2.1M in campaign money.

If we get this full story, we’ll definitely find out how Dunn came to Florida; but that will be a footnote. Texas and its looming voucher grift — for the sake of which Middleton, Morath, and Pickren seem to be empowering a known criminal fraud and grifter — is where the action is.

Here are a few questions that might guide us toward full understanding. I hope Texans and reporters will explore them.

How does Kendall Baker know James Dunn? Why did he use him as campaign treasurer and hire his company as campaign consultant?

Kendall Baker is a gross, former employee of the city of Houston, suspended indefinitely and/or fired from his city job in 2014 after accusations that he made lewd sexual advances against a co-worker.

And there’s quite a bit more than that to unpack about him, which you can read here in a deeply reported critique from “the right” — from a Republican who ran against him. It’s called: “Why I Didn’t Endorse Kendall Baker.” You should read it. [Hint: Baker lies a lot.]

Despite that baggage — or because of it — Baker won his Houston ISD (equivalent of the School Board in Florida) seat in December 2021. Convicted felon James Dunn was Baker’s campaign treasurer.

Baker’s campaign also paid $2,000 — most of the money it raised — to a company called “2D Development LLC” for “consultant reimbursement.” One assumes that Dunn, as treasurer, cut the check.

James Dunn is a director and manager of 2D Development LLC.

As sharp-eyed readers may have noticed, “2D Development LLC” is the name of one of six companies tied to Dunn that received emergency, forgivable PPP loans during COVID. (Full rundown on that here.)

The $61,242 “2D Development LLC” money was approved on April 30, 2020. You may notice that the PPP record says that 2D Development LLL provides “vocational rehabilitation services” not “campaign consulting.”

I can find no other company doing business with the name “2D Development LLC” — but the addresses associated with the PPP loan and the campaign payment are different — one in Houston, one in Angleton.

I suppose it’s possible that two different companies tied to James Dunn could have the same name but different addresses. I hope reporters will look into that — and how Dunn and Baker came to associate with one another.

Baker, like TEA Commissioner Morath, attended Dunn’s October training in Southlake, as reported by Houston NBC station KPRC. Baker sent a twitter comment to the station following its report.

HISD Trustee, Dr. Kendall Baker, sent a message via Twitter regarding his attendance at a Dunn event:

“I was invited in my capacity as a Bishop to perform the invocation. I believe that more prayer is needed for the success of all districts, students and staff. I am not aware neither interested in any of the attendees personal business. Even so, nothing will ever prohibit nor discourage me from praying. Prayer truly changes things. Merry Christmas!”

What makes Mike Morath and Kendall Baker a package for Greg Abbott?

Remarkably, less than two weeks ago, on December 13, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent out a press release proudly announcing the appointments of Morath and Dunn’s campaign client Baker to a multi-state education organization called Southern Regional Education Board (SREB.)

Baker and Morath were the only two names announced. They’re a package; but their only obvious connection, beyond Abbott, is James Dunn.

How unlikely is it, numerically, that Abbott would pick first year ISD member Kendall Baker to join TEA Commissioner Morath on SREB?

Well, Texas has more than 1,000 elected school boards. (I keep finding different numbers. So “more than 1,000” is a conservative guess. I’ve seen as high as 1,200.)

If you assume five to seven trustees per district, you’re looking at between 5,000 and 7,000 total trustees. By contrast Florida has just 67 county-based districts, for roughly 300 to 500 elected School Board. (That exponential difference likely explains the curiously low-dollar campaign for Baker, compared to Florida School Board campaigns, which can get very expensive.)

So to borrow from Casablanca: of all the ISD members in all the state of Texas, Greg Abbott chose Kendall Baker — a criminal-consorting “minister” dismissed for workplace sexual behavior.

Why?

Why does Abbott — or Morath — feel such a connection to Baker?

Just three days after Abbott announced the appointments, reporter Catherine Dominguez of the Courier of Montgomery County produced the first Texas story about Dunn’s training, which Baker and Morath very publicly took part in. Link here.

That’s quite unfortunate timing, governor.

Did Kendall Baker, so-called “minister against crime,” know Dunn was a felon, actively cheating a Houston church?

Abbott’s SREB press release refers to Kendall Baker as a member of Houston’s “Ministers against Crime” and the Houston Area Pastor Council.

Willfully associating with James Dunn seems an odd choice for any Houston “minister against crime.” Not only is Dunn a felon and shameless grifter, he has recently, viciously grifted a Houston Church called the “Community Temple Church of God In Christ.” And he has defied court orders to pay up. All of this was happening while Dunn was treasurer and campaign consultant for Kendall Baker, “minister against crime.”

I told that full sorry story in the article linked here. Here is the high level account, in brief timeline fashion, intertwined with some other key Dunn and Baker dates:

• April 2019: The Community Temple Church of God In Christ in Houston signs 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.

• August 17, 2021: After Houston prosecutors ignore their complaints, the church takes Dunn to civil court and wins a judgement for $21,293. By this date, companies connected to Dunn had received $310,000 in federal PPP money.

• Dec. 7, 2021: An appeals court rejects Dunn’s appeal, citing Dunn’s inaction in pursuing it.

• Dec. 11, 2021: Kendall Baker wins his election, with Dunn as treasurer.

• Dec. 15, 2021: Rep. David “Mayes" Middleton donates $5,000 to January 6th attendee Julie Pickren for her Texas Board of Education campaign.

• Dec. 31, 2021: Baker’s campaign, of which Dunn is treasurer, pays Dunn’s “2D Development LLC” $2,000 for “consultant reimbursement.”

• Jan. 2, 2022: As Dunn defies the court order to pay back the Community Temple Church of God In Christ, “Mayes" Middleton donates $15,000 to “Black Republicans of Brazoria County,” a Dunn “charity” that also received a $62,500 PPP loan in April of 2021. [We’re going to discuss this in a second.]

• Jan. 20, 2022: Mayes Middleton, fresh off his “Black Republicans” contribution, becomes Kendall Baker’s biggest campaign donor for 2022 with a $2,000 contribution. [More in a second.]

• Feb. 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 poses with Dunn for a picture.

• Feb. 25, 2022: The Texas Appeals Court issues a “mandate” that “commands” Dunn to obey their order to pay Community Temple. He continues to ignore the court.

• July 2022: Bishop Kurt Thompson of Community Temple tells me. “[Dunn] hasn’t paid us a dime,” adding that other churches have been victimized, too.

• Dec. 23, 2022: I send Kendall Baker an email, asking: “Hi there. Were you aware, when James Dunn was running your School Board campaign, that he was actively cheating a Houston church called the "Community Temple Church of God In Christ"? A court ordered him to compensate the church in August 2021. Did you know that?”

I have not received a response from Baker.

Two is a pattern: How does Dunn keep getting Greg Abbott pictures?

This first picture is from the “Lincoln Reagan Day” dinner I mentioned above in February of this year.

I’m not sure about this second one; but I know Dunn posted it on June 7, 2022, on Instagram just as he was entering Polk County to unintentionally destroy the campaigns of his gross Polk County clients.

Note Dunn’s reference to “Black Republicans of Brazoria County.” Was this a BRBC event? I don’t know.

I do know that Middleton spent campaign money in January 2022 — on what appears to be an event — with “Black Republicans of Brazoria County,” making him the only apparent benefactor of BRBC to that point.

And I know that Mayes Middleton, about that same time, became Kendall Baker’s first and largest contributor for whatever election cycle January 2022 represents.

These contributions came about eight months after BRBC collected a $62,500 in PPP loans to supposedly protect six jobs on *zero* known revenue. Here’s a deep dive on Middleton and BRBC and its apparent lack of revenue.

If you’re with the FBI or Secret Service or whatever and you’re looking at Dunn’s PPPs, I’d recommend starting with BRBC.

It appears to be capped by the IRS at $50K per year in revenue because of the scant reporting documents it’s required to file. I got this image back when I tried to search it on a non-profit information site.

It’s hard to see how you get $62,500 to support six supposed employees on a max possible annual revenue of $50K.

Who put Mayes Middleton together with Julie Pickren, James Dunn, Kendall Baker, and BRBC?

Answering that question will likely help us answer many others. I spoke to somebody in Middleton’s office over the summer about some of this. A flunkie said they would get back with me. They didn’t.

There’s so much going on in this article that I can’t even really get to Pickren herself — sweetheart of Jan. 6 and Texas Board of Education member-elect — other than to note Middelton’s role as an early, large donor to her Texas board campaign; her presence at Dunn’s training; and the potential fun of her swearing in.

(As I said, if Dunn, Middleton, and Morath don’t show up, you’ll know this story is starting to get legs.)

Right now, Middleton is her only known, direct connection to Dunn before the October training. But I bet I can find more if you good Texans don’t get there first.

Here is a massive James Dunn timeline, stretching to 2002, that I’ve put together as a resource. (I’m not even trying to publish it via email.)

The full James Dunn/Rick Nolte/CCDF scandal timeline

Please feel free to search through it.