Project Fear Comes for Texas: The Russia Smear, the Rinaldi Lawsuit, and Why You Win Independence With the Gloves Off

Late Night Coffee Talk returns, and Daniel Miller does not waste the reunion on small talk. He sets the tone with a line from Dr. Matt Qvortrup: you never win independence by playing soft, the gloves have to come off, politics is a combat sport. Everything that follows is proof of the point. The opposition has realized TEXIT is serious and has reached for the only playbook it owns, the same project fear deployed against Brexit and Scottish independence. Smear, scare, repeat.

The heaviest stretch of the night is the accusation that the movement is a Russian operation. Miller calls it a fabricated lie and traces where it came from: two poorly organized anti-globalization conferences in Moscow that covered lodging and travel, the same questions the TNM asks of any group that invites him to speak, later twisted by Politico and others into a collusion narrative they refused to correct. He cites an Oxford report on industrialized disinformation showing the U.S. government runs its own domestic propaganda since the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 lifted the ban, and argues the accounts hammering TEXIT supporters look more like a state actor in Washington than anything out of Moscow. The proof he is not on the take, he says, is the paint chipping off his 2012 Scion and the hurricane damage he still cannot afford to fix.

He also lays out the economic argument the smears exist to avoid: Texas overpays between 103 and 160 billion dollars a year into the federal system, the highway money TxDOT receives comes from Texans first, and Washington already projects it cannot meet its pension obligations by 2030. The other thread is accountability. After Travis County courts and the Texas Supreme Court ran out the clock on the petition, the TNM intends to sue Matt Rinaldi and the Republican Party of Texas for breaching a statutory duty and disenfranchising the Texans who signed.

Questions answered in this episode

• What is behind the constant cyber attacks on the TNM website, and who is launching them?
• Where do the petition lawsuits stand after the courts ran out the clock, and will the TNM sue Matt Rinaldi and the Republican Party of Texas?
• Why does the TNM advocate for a referendum rather than a convention, as Brian McClanahan recommends?
• If Texas becomes a nation, would Greg Abbott be its president?
• When are the petitions being delivered to Governor Abbott?
• When Texas becomes independent, will Daniel Miller run for Texas president?
• What should we make of David Covey challenging Dade Phelan, and what does the Texas First Pledge actually commit a candidate to?
• How can TNM supporters expect the cause to advance while they keep electing establishment Republican officials who set it back?
• Has Daniel spoken with Representative Chip Roy, and what is the best way to donate to the TNM?
• Has Sid Miller said anything publicly about independence?
• Why were the articles about Russia deleted from the website? (They were not.)
• What is your answer to the accusation that the movement is collaborating with Russia?
• If Texas secedes, how would roads and federal highways be funded if TxDOT relies on the federal Department of Transportation?