TYC Scandal: Kimbrough “A Less Than Honorable Political Hack”

[Joanne98]

TYC Scandal: Kimbrough “A Less Than Honorable Political Hack”
A story in the San Antonio Express-News this week takes a look at Jay Kimbrough, the controversial Conservator of the Texas Youth Commission as appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry.

Interestingly, the article is actually a somewhat more balanced look at Kimbrough than we’re used to seeing from the press. While it starts out waxing poetic about Kimbrough’s Vietnam War activities (which even we won’t dispute as being pretty amazing), it does a much better job than other articles at addressing the controversy swirling around Kimbrough:

Kimbrough in 1997 headed a state agency that gave a private security-guard license to a convicted felon who later killed a man at a bar where he provided security. Though not at the agency when the license was issued, Kimbrough took the public heat over inadequate criminal background checks on private security guards.

Kimbrough in 2006 oversaw state agents who seized evidence from a federal court as part of a state criminal investigation. The federal judge accused the state of behavior bordering on the criminal.

Attorney General Greg Abbott told the judge the seizure occurred because of a miscommunication between Kimbrough and other senior members of his office.

That’s a pretty gigantic miscommunication. If Kimbrough was subject to a similar “miscommunication” at the Youth Commission, more than the misplacing of a few X-Rays is likely to happen.

More:

The biggest question about Kimbrough arose out of the role he played in searching for Democratic House members who broke a quorum in 2003 by fleeing to Oklahoma to stall a congressional redistricting bill.

Kimbrough coordinated state police from the office of House Speaker Tom Craddick and called FBI agents in Oklahoma to see if they would intervene to help bring the runaway lawmakers back to Austin.

“He’s a less than honorable political hack, and he’ll do whatever he’s told to do,” said state Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth. “My fear (about Kimbrough as the TYC conservator) is his appointment is about covering-up high-level malfeasance.”

Thank you, Lon Burnam for saying what we’ve all been thinking for weeks. Kimbrough’s appointment makes it look like Perry’s office is trying its best to cover things up.

Then, check this out:

Kimbrough said most of the Democratic legislators have misunderstood his role in the redistricting debate.

He said he was called in to give legal advice, not as the state’s director of homeland security. He said he coordinated Department of Public Safety officers in the hunt for the lawmakers only as a liaison between them and the legislative leaders.

And he said he called the FBI agents in Oklahoma only because Craddick asked him to. Kimbrough said he never expected the FBI to become involved in a civil issue.

“I’m sorry, when the speaker of the House asked me to make the phone call, I said, ‘Oh, baloney,’ but I made the phone call,” Kimbrough said.

So, as Homeland Security Director for the state, he was also called in to give “legal advice” in some other capacity? That’s a blurring of the lines anyone can see. Will Kimbrough as Conservator also be called in by Perry to put on his political adviser hat and give Perry political advice on the scandal? Seems highly likely.

Then, there’s this:

Kimbrough said he has no intention of involving himself in the probe of TYC because that is up to the trained investigators, the Travis County district attorney and the news media.

Really? Then why did he send law enforcement officers to every TYC facility in the state to “safeguard” records? Was that a cover-Perry’s-ass measure?
http://capitolannex.com/2007/04/10/tyc-scandal-kimbrough-a-less-than-honorable-political-hack/