Judge orders group behind Texas trans mailers to testify under oath

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

A Travis County judge ordered the group behind millions of mailers offering support for transgender youths to answer questions under oath this week. The ruling cracks open an operation built on a Wyoming-registered LLC and a Houston post office box, hiding whoever sent pamphlets that appear to come from a real Texas nonprofit.

The Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) says the mailers and texts made it look like the group was reaching out to children unsolicited. That triggered death threats, forced it to suspend programming, and pushed it to hire security. A West Texas district attorney is investigating the mailers as forgeries intended to influence the midterms.

Why it matters

Millions of Texas voters received impersonating mail during early voting. If the senders stay anonymous, no one answers for it.

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Key Indicators

3.6–4.2M

Mailers sent across Texas

TENT estimates the mailing cost far more than its $1 million annual budget.

Depositions ordered

Infobip and a Texas Transgender Student Union representative must testify this week.

$1M

TENT's annual budget

The impersonated nonprofit says the mass mailing cost far more than its yearly budget.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

People Involved

Jan Soifer

Travis County District Judge

Presiding over the case

Chris Hilton

Attorney for Texas Transgender Student Union

Representing the Wyoming group and unnamed clients of Infobip

Mimi Marziani

Attorney for Transgender Education Network of Texas

Lead counsel seeking to identify the mailers' sender

Sarah Stogner

West Texas District Attorney

Lead criminal investigation into the mailers

Organizations Involved

Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT)

Nonprofit advocacy group

Impersonated in mass mailings and texts

Texas-based transgender rights group that says it was impersonated by the mailers and texts.

Texas Transgender Student Union LLC

Limited liability company

Listed as sender of the mailers; facing forced disclosure

Wyoming-registered LLC with a Houston post office box that sent millions of mailers.

Infobip

Messaging company

Ordered to respond to written deposition questions

Cloud communications company whose client transmitted the unsolicited text messages.

Timeline

7 events Latest: Today

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October 2026
TTSU representative deposition scheduled
Upcoming Legal

A representative of the Wyoming group is set to testify over Zoom, unless an appeal stays the order.
Tomorrow
Infobip deposition scheduled
Today Legal

The messaging company's representative is set to answer written deposition questions.
Today
Judge orders depositions; denies dismissal
Legal

Travis County Judge Jan Soifer orders TTSU and Infobip to answer questions under oath, rejecting the First Amendment objection.
Yesterday
West Texas DA opens criminal investigation
Investigation

Republican District Attorney Sarah Stogner calls the mailers apparent forgeries intended to influence voters.
2 days ago
TENT denies sending the texts
Statement

The Transgender Education Network of Texas says it's being impersonated and calls for an investigation.
October 20th, 2026
Mailers begin landing in Texas homes
Incident

Pamphlets addressed to "students" appear, advertising LGBTQ+ youth resources from the Texas Transgender Student Union.
October 17th, 2026
Unsolicited texts arrive across Texas
Incident

Texts offering advice on trans youth topics start arriving, linking to TENT's website without identifying a sender.
October 12th, 2026

Scenarios

Deposition reveals who's behind the mailers

Likely Resolves by Nov 6, 2026

Discussed by: TENT's legal team; The Texas Tribune

The TTSU representative testifies Friday without an appellate stay, naming the individuals behind the operation. TENT publicly reveals those names, and DA Stogner's criminal investigation gains concrete targets. The appeal to the 3rd Court of Appeals proceeds but testimony already happened.

Appeal blocks testimony through the election

Possible Resolves by Nov 3, 2026

Discussed by: Chris Hilton, TTSU attorney

The 3rd Court of Appeals grants a stay while the First Amendment question is litigated. The sender's identity stays hidden through the November 3 midterms, and the case could drag on for months. TENT remains unable to clear its name before voters head to the polls.

Criminal charges follow the civil case

Possible Resolves by Jan 15, 2027

Discussed by: West Texas DA Sarah Stogner's office

After deposition testimony or despite an appeal, Stogner's forgery investigation yields charges against those behind the mailers. It would be the first criminal consequence for the operation, adding penalties for voter influence schemes on top of the civil discovery.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

August 2004

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (2004)

A group of Vietnam veterans formed an independent organization to attack John Kerry's war record in the 2004 presidential race. They initially refused to name donors, arguing the First Amendment protects anonymous political speech.

Then

The ads damaged Kerry's campaign; donor identities were exposed only after the election.

Now

Became shorthand for anonymous groups shaping elections, driving later campaign-finance disclosure battles.

Why this matters now

The Swift Boat case is the template for anonymous groups using political-speech rights to shield identity — the same argument the Wyoming mailer group now makes in court.

2015–2017

Russian Internet Research Agency (2016)

The St. Petersburg troll farm created accounts posing as American movements, including Black Lives Matter and Tea Party pages, to inflame division during the 2016 election.

Then

Platforms later revealed the scale of the operation, and the IRA was indicted for election interference.

Now

Made impersonation a first-order concern for election integrity, not just attack ads.

Why this matters now

This Texas operation uses the same playbook: mimic a known advocacy group so the backlash lands on the group rather than the sender.

July 2021

Americans for Prosperity v. Bonta (2021)

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that California could not require charities to submit confidential donor lists to the attorney general, citing the First Amendment right to anonymous association.

Then

The ruling protected donor privacy in states that had collected such lists.

Now

Set the legal standard the Wyoming group now invokes to resist the deposition.

Why this matters now

It's the strongest existing precedent for the claim that forced disclosure chills anonymous speech, though courts have allowed disclosure when fraud or harm is at stake.