The Harris County District Attorney's Office DA's office is recusing itself from prosecuting former staffers of County Judge Lina Hidalgo.
Recently sworn-in Harris County DA Sean Teare filed a motion for recusal on Thursday. Harris County court records show that the request was granted by Judge Hazel Jones.
The investigation is into an alleged bid-rigging of a $11 million county contract to a vendor with democratic ties. In June 2021, Elevate Strategies was awarded the contract for a COVID-19 outreach project. The contract was eventually cancelled, however, the following year, three of Hidalgo's staffers, Alex Triantaphyllis, Aaron Dunn and Wallis Nader, were all indicted by a grand jury for allegedly trying to get the contract through for Elevate.
Prior to taking office, Teare worked for the law firm representing Triantaphyllis. Teare also received an endorsement from Hidalgo during his primary election campaign, in which he defeated former Harris County DA Kim Ogg. Following her loss in March, Ogg accused Teare of having a conflict of interest in the case and turned the investigation over to the Texas Attorney General's Office.
Photo: Harris County District Attorney's Office