- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is refusing to release months of emails with Elon Musk and his company representatives, claiming the communications are “intimate and embarrassing.” The documents were requested as part of an investigation into Musk’s growing influence in the Texas business and political scene.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott doesn’t want months of emails between his office and billionaire Elon Musk to be made public. Abbott’s office cited privacy concerns in response to a joint request from ProPublica, The Texas Newsroom, and The Texas Tribune to release the records.
The documents were requested as part of an investigation into Musk’s growing influence in Texas politics.
The Governor’s office claimed the communications are confidential and contain “intimate” or “embarrassing” details, and aren’t of public interest. The emails reportedly involve legal discussions, policy decisions, and strategies for attracting business investment to Texas.
Matthew Taylor, Abbott’s public information coordinator, wrote in a letter that releasing the records to the public “would have a chilling effect on the frank and open discussion necessary for the decision-making process.”
He also argued that the records should be considered confidential under “common-law privacy,” an exemption to public records laws, because they contained “information that is intimate and embarrassing and not of legitimate concern to the public, including financial decisions that do not relate to transactions between an individual and a governmental body.”
In April, the Texas Newsroom paid $244 to obtain the records after the governor’s office told them that reviewing them would take more than 13 hours.
Abbott’s office later declared all the requested records were confidential and asked Attorney General Ken Paxton for permission to withhold them.
The Attorney General’s office has 45 business days to decide whether Abbott’s records will be disclosed.
Representatives for Musk and Abbott did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fortune, made outside normal working hours.
Abbott’s office failed to answer specific questions put to them by ProPublica, but told the outlet in a statement: “The Office of the Governor rigorously complies with the Texas Public Information Act and will release any responsive information that is determined to not be confidential or excepted from disclosure.”
Musk’s growing Texian interests
Musk has become a prolific figure in Texas’s business scene over the last few years.
In 2021, the billionaire moved Tesla’s corporate headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to the Texas city of Austin after clashing with health officials at the start of the COVID pandemic and criticizing California’s regulations and taxes.
Musk has since relocated the headquarters for X and SpaceX to Texas.
Abbott and Musk have become primarily linked since the billionaire came to town.
Abbott has credited the Tesla and SpaceX CEO as the driving inspiration behind the establishment of the state’s own efficiency office and commended Musk for relocating the headquarters of multiple businesses to Texas in recent years.
Earlier this year, The Texas Newsroom released emails and calendar entries showing that a Texas lawmaker had scheduled multiple meetings with SpaceX representatives.
The records also revealed that Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration advocating for approval to increase the number of SpaceX rocket launches.
