More great investigative work by KPRC-TV’s Mario Diaz as he digs further into Mayor Turner’s top aide, William-Paul Thomas, who pleaded guilty to accepting bribes.
It’s certainly appears that Mayor Turner knew what was going on with Thomas.
One email forwarded to the Mayor from his communication director shows that a real estate developer offered Thomas’ son a $100,000 “scholarship” bribe for help.
Williams-Paul Thomas was offered $500,000 from real estate developer Jason Yoo for help with a $350 million land deal. That email offer was also sent to the city’s Development Officer Andy Icken.
Back in 2020, KPRC’s Mario Diaz asked about the email and Turner said “the email, when I saw it yesterday, based on what you presented, the email was inappropriate.”
Yet he allowed Thomas to remain on staff and no one reported the attempted bribe to the FBI or any other agency.
“city records show emails with six figures from Yoo to Thomas were not one-offs. On Aug. 30, KPRC Investigates reported on an email titled, “Your son” sent from Yoo to Thomas referencing a $100,000 scholarship for Thomas’ son. After the report, we asked Mayor Turner if he was ever made aware of the scholarship email. The Mayor’s response, “No I’m not aware.”However, city records provided to us by the Mayor’s office show the city’s Communications Director did send Turner a thread referencing the scholarship email.”