Craddick tells former parliamentarian to stay quiet

The Capitol Annex blog today posted a copy of a letter they obtained that House Speaker Tom Craddick sent to former House parliamentarian Denise Davis. Download craddick_letter_to_denise_davis.pdf
Davis resigned the night of the House uproar against Craddick after he refused to recognize legislators' efforts to depose him. Former deputy parliamentarian Christopher Griesel resigned along with Davis.
Then, Craddick brought in his allies and former legislators Terry Keel and Ron Wilson to do the parliamentarians' jobs. After the legislative session, Craddick appointed Keel to the position permanently.
The letter indicates Craddick doesn't want Davis talking about advice she gave him as parliamentarian. Many have wondered whether she told Craddick the night of the uprising that he should recognize legislators who wanted to make a motion to unseat him. Her resignation and Chris's came shortly after Craddick ruled he had absolute power not to recognize.
It seems from the letter, Craddick wants Davis to let the curiosity continue. He told her their conversations were subject to attorney-client privilege.
In the letter, Craddick said, "As your former client, I am putting you on notice that I expect you to keep confidential all privileged matters that transpired during the time you worked for me."

Comments

[Vince Leibowitz]

Thanks for the links, Brandi! Good post. I suspect Denise Davis did tell Craddick he had to recognize those legislators. But, I also believe he knew he was going to get that advice and ignore it, which is why he had Terry Keel waiting in the wings.

[Anthony]

The real question is who Ms. Davis' client? Is it the mere person (Craddick) or the Office of the Speaker of the House (and the people of Texas)?

As an officer of the House of Representatives, its clear to me her duty is to the people, not any one man.

But such is the confusion that comes with inappropriately injecting the Republican private-law, profit-driven view of the world into our public-law, public-interest tradition of American democracy and statesmanship.

[Anthony]

Sorry about the typo in the first sentence. It should have read: "The real question is who is Ms. Davis' client?"