The former interim Texas secretary of state who bungled a controversial citizenship review of nearly 100,000 people is now on the governor’s payroll.
After resigning last week when it was clear he would not get confirmed to hold the role permanently, David Whitely was transferred to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s office, where he will serve as a special adviser.
“David Whitley has been an exemplary public servant to the state of Texas for many years and the Governor is proud to welcome him back to our organization as a Special Advisor,” governor spokesman John Wittman told the Dallas Morning News.
Whitley, who previously served as a deputy chief of staff to Abbott, was named acting secretary of state in December. In January, Whitley issued an advisory that said 95,000 people on Texas voter rolls had obtained driver’s licenses they could use for ID at voting sites, but were not U.S. citizens. Roughly 58,000 of that group had voted in at least one election since 1996. Whitley called on local officials to look into whether noncitizens had illegally voted.
The effort led to a tweet from President Trump with faulty statistics about potential voter fraud in Texas. “58,000 non-citizens voted in Texas, with 95,000 non-citizens registered to vote. These numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. All over the country, especially in California, voter fraud is rampant. Must be stopped. Strong voter ID!” Trump tweeted, portraying Whitley’s findings as being conclusive.
However, the list contained 25,000 people who had already proved their U.S. citizenship. The state was subject to three lawsuits and the Texas secretary of state’s office agreed in April to settle and pay $450,000 in costs and attorney’s fees.
Whitley resigned on Monday, when his tenure in an acting capacity was up, after all 12 Democrats in the 31-member state Senate said they would oppose his confirmation, which requires two-thirds of the vote to pass.
According to the state comptroller’s office, Whitley was rehired by Abbott on a $205,000 annual salary, which is slightly above the $197,415 he made as acting secretary of state — $64,500 more than the previous secretary of state.
