Texas Governor Greg Abbott will not hand over a string of “intimate” emails between him and billionaire Elon Musk, fearing they are too private and not in the public interest.
The Texas Newsroom, as part of a joint initiative with ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, requested to see emails between the governor and Musk to monitor the level of influence Musk had in the state.
The Tesla owner has been active in Texas for years, relocating in 2020 and receiving approval for his new city, “Starbase,” this year. Musk has also said his foundation would launch a school near his SpaceX headquarters in Austin.
Abbott, who has held correspondence with Musk, defended the decision, writing that the pair’s emails included “information that is intimate and embarrassing and not of legitimate concern to the public.”
In April, the Texas Newsroom attempted to gain access to emails between the duo and others who had dealings with Musk’s companies around the time of the November 2024 election.
At the time, the governor's office stated that it would take at least 13 hours to collate the information, at a down payment price of $244.64, ahead of completion.
The Texas Newsroom reports that as soon as the check they wrote for the documents was cashed, Abbott’s office sent an email declaring the emails were “confidential” and asked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to keep them under lock and key.
One of Musk’s lawyers, Kevin Bagnall, who represents SpaceX, also wrote to Paxton’s office arguing the emails should be kept a secret, according to the Texas Newsroom. The main reason, he argues, is that they include “commercial information whose disclosure would cause SpaceX substantial competitive harm.”
Paxton is yet to decide on an outcome.
The Independent contacted his office for comment.
Texas-based attorney Bill Aleshire told the Texas Newsroom he was shocked by the governor’s claims that dealings with the world’s richest man are completely private.
“Right now, it appears they’ve charged you $244 for records they have no intention of giving you,” he said, adding, “That is shocking.”
In a letter from Abbott’s public information coordinator, Mathew Taylor – dated June 3 – it is stated that parts of the requested material “consist[s] of factual information that is inextricably intertwined with the material involving advice, opinion, and recommendations as to make separation of the data impractical.”
At the very start, it states that “release of the responsive information may also implicate the interests of a third party,” who was notified of the disclosure request.
But most damningly, it stated that releasing the information “would have a chilling effect on the frank and open discussion necessary for the decision-making process.”
Taylor noted common law privacy, which “protects information that is both highly intimate or embarrassing, the publication of which would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person and not of legitimate concern to the public.
In a statement to HuffPost, Abbott’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, said The Texas Newsroom’s focus on the “intimate and embarrassing” language in the refusal letter is “purposefully misleading.”
According to the Texas Public Information Handbook, certain pieces of data remain exempt from public disclosure, including medical records, reports of child abuse, and mental health records.
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