Texas Supreme Court Halts Emergency Deposition Over Mysterious Student Union Mailers
The Texas Supreme Court stepped into an escalating election-season controversy on Friday, temporarily blocking a court-ordered deposition just fifteen minutes before questioning was scheduled to begin. The legal maneuver centers on the identity of the mysterious group behind millions of mailers distributed across Texas households as early voting proceeded for the November 3 midterm elections.
The pamphlets, which arrived in mid-October, purported to support transgender students but quickly drew fierce backlash from conservative commentators. According to Mimi Marziani, a lawyer for the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT), the organization estimates that between 3.6 million and 4.2 million mailers flooded the state, carrying an estimated price tag far exceeding the nonprofit’s $1 million annual budget.
Wyoming LLC Hides Organizers Behind Vacant Address
The mailers listed a return address for the Texas Transgender Student Union, an entity that business records show was formed as an LLC in Wyoming on September 2, 2026. State filings link the organization to an address at 30 N. Gould St. in Sheridan, Wyoming, a state whose business laws permit LLC owners to remain shielded from public registries. The entity maintains no website, social media footprint, or online presence outside of state registration documents.
Before the mailers appeared, statewide text messages also directed recipients to TENT’s website. A Travis County district court judge previously ordered depositions regarding those texts, which revealed ties to the “Republican Women Caucus Fund” and an individual named John Braun. While the caucus fund and a Washington state senator named John Braun denied involvement, TENT believes that the text messages and the mailers originated from the same entity.
The fallout has impacted the advocacy group. Marziani noted that the unauthorized use of TENT’s name and members’ photos on the mailers generated widespread confusion, forcing the nonprofit to deactivate its website, suspend programming, hire security, and retain counsel due to threats.
Attorneys Defend Mailers Under First Amendment Protections
Attorneys for the Texas Transgender Student Union moved swiftly against the district court’s discovery orders, filing an emergency mandamus petition with the state Supreme Court. Chris Hilton, the lawyer representing the Wyoming-registered group—who formerly served in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office and represented Paxton during his 2023 impeachment trial—defended the mailers under the First Amendment.
The first amendment protects speech 365 days a year – especially in an election year. TTSU did nothing wrong other than engage in speech.
Regarding the return address, Hilton attributed the similarity to TENT’s address to a printing typo.
While the Texas Supreme Court issued an administrative pause without detailing its reasoning, the judicial intervention leaves key questions unanswered ahead of the election cycle. TENT faces a 10 a.m. deadline on Monday, November 2, to submit its formal response to the Supreme Court’s emergency stay. Meanwhile, a separate forgery investigation opened by West Texas District Attorney Sarah Stogner continues to probe whether the mailers were designed to motivate conservative voters.
