Daniel Miller opened this Late Night Coffee Talk by marking the passing of his aunt, a longtime dues-paying member who never missed the broadcast, then turned to the viewer questions that drive the show. The night ranged across the civil war inside the Texas GOP, the mechanics of a Texas independence vote, and the difference between political theater and lasting reform.
The lead question concerned the Texas Ethics Commission dismissing the complaint against RPT chairman Abraham George. Miller laid out the background. George warned legislators they would face a rule-44 censure for ignoring the Republican caucus and empowering Democrat committee chairs, and Rep. Cody Harris answered by filing a TEC complaint that recast that warning as legislative bribery. Had it advanced, Miller argued, it would have forced a criminal referral and criminalized ordinary political pressure, the same thing every activist does when promising to campaign against a lawmaker. He called it a garbage complaint, political retribution dressed up as ethics, and said the weaponizing of state institutions is lawfare, terrorism without the bombs and the guns, and is just getting warmed up.
On strategy, Miller pushed back hard on fair-weather unionists, the people who think a friendlier occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue means the problem is solved. The recent wins on immigration and the border came by executive order, he noted, and anything one executive order grants the next can erase. With a $36 trillion federal debt and the federal government itself as the failure point, TEXIT is the process that moves Texas from status quo to independence, not a single act. His advice on persuasion was blunt. Stop begging skeptics and spend your finite time connecting with the Texans who are already ready.
Questions answered in this episode
- What to make of the Texas Ethics Commission dismissing the bribery complaint against RPT chairman Abraham George?
- When does the Texas Stock Exchange go live, and does BlackRock being an investor compromise it?
- What does a typical day and week look like for Daniel Miller and the TNM leadership?
- How do you combat fair-weather unionists who think independence is unnecessary under the current administration?
- Will the TNM run another TEXIT petition campaign this year, or has the referendum act made that unnecessary?
- Would an independent Texas favor certain nationalities in its immigration policy, and what would a sensible system look like?
- Why does the Texas Independence Referendum Act call for a question politicians can supposedly ignore, and could it be made binding?
- What does Texas owe Washington on the federal debt, and what about the state’s gold and the bullion depository?
On the referendum question, Miller drew the distinction he says critics miss: legally binding versus politically binding. The act mandates that specific steps follow an affirmative vote, though it cannot order the governor to call a special session because that is a discretionary constitutional power. The real force is political. A statewide vote becomes global news, every politician is forced to take a public side, and the candidate filing window opens almost immediately after. With independence referendums drawing turnout near 85 percent, a yes vote would be the largest voting bloc in Texas history, and no officeholder who stood against it would survive the next cycle. Timing, he said, citing Brexit, matters as much as the question.
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