Rep. Jeff Leach served with defamation lawsuit in the middle of Texas House hearing

A House committee chairman was served a defamation lawsuit this week during a legislative hearing at the state Capitol on a complaint stemming from a Twitter exchange between the lawmaker and a GOP activist over a bill that would allow Texas to secede from the United States.

Rep. Jeff Leach on Wednesday received notice of the lawsuit, which claims the Plano Republican defamed Morgan McComb by calling her support of the Texas Independence Referendum Act treasonous sedition, as the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence worked through its agenda.

A process server signed up to testify on a bill up for consideration but rather than commenting on the legislation he notified Leach of the suit filed against him in Parker County.

"I've been serving now for six terms and have never experienced personally, or for any other House member, what just happened in our committee room," Leach told the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee after the unprecedented exchange.

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While the interaction happened quickly and the committee continued with its business with little delay, Leach took time to apologize for the distraction and to further explain the situation surrounding his social media rebuke of House Bill 3596 by Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City.

"I tweeted some pushback and some disagreement with that, which I stand behind, and Mr. Slaton is not a party to this lawsuit, but one of his strongest supporters decided to file a lawsuit against me," Leach said.

In March, Slaton announced on Twitter that he had filed a "TEXIT" bill, which quickly received a response from Leach who said, "this ridiculous bill is the very definition of hypocritical & seditious treason & it is already dead."

McComb, the GOP activist, took issue with the chairman's comment and asked if he was accusing her of treasonous sedition, according to the filing.

Leach then responded to McComb, saying that if she believed Texas should secede from the United States then the answer is "unequivocally yes."

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Paul Davis, an attorney representing McComb who has worked with the Texas National Movement, an organization that advocates for Texas' independence, said in a statement Wednesday that Leach values loyalty to the federal government over the rights of Texans.

"Rather than engage in discussion with those who disagree, Rep. Leach attempts to shut down public debate by falsely accusing supporters of the TEXIT Bill as being guilty of sedition and treason," Davis said. "Texans should expect better from their elected representatives than to be accused of crimes merely for voicing their opinions."

McComb is seeking up to $250,000 for the defamation claim.

Brushing off the accusation, Leach pointed to Slaton, saying the TEXIT bill author should not worry about the defamation suit and instead concern himself with recent allegations against Slaton of an "inappropriate relationship" with an intern.

The House General Investigating Committee has initiated an investigation into the allegations after receiving an internal complaint from legislative staffers with knowledge of the relationship. Slaton last week hired a criminal defense attorney to represent him in the matter.

The investigating committee met behind closed doors on April 14 but did not publicly discuss its work related to the Slaton allegations or any other probes.

"I'm not sure Rep. Slaton is going to have much time to pay attention to my case considering some of his own legal challenges," Leach said. "So, we'd encourage him to focus on that as opposed to this nonsense."

Meanwhile in the Senate, a bipartisan bill by Sen. Drew Springer, R-Muenster, and Sen. José Menéndez, D-San Antonio, was filed this week in response to the allegations that have surfaced against Slaton.

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Senate Bill 2610 would make it a Class A misdemeanor to directly provide an alcoholic beverage to a legislative employee or intern who is younger than 21. Under the proposal, anyone found guilty would be subject up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

The House on Wednesday approved on second reading a similar bill to create a state jail felony for the same behavior outlined in the Senate bill.

After largely laughing off the defamation claim through a couple of jokes at Leach's expense, the House Judiciary Committee continued its agenda but not before a stern warning from Rep. Cody Vasut, R-Angleton, that those testifying in a committee hearing are under oath and not allowed to speak under false pretenses.

"I just want to remind everybody, while it is a little funny, and perhaps my chairman has been poked at a little bit here and to our enjoyment at times, it is a crime, don't do it," Vasut said.

Later in the day while laying out a bill on the House floor, Leach playfully rejected an envelope from another lawmaker, saying, "I'm not accepting anything else today."

Following the committee hearing Leach released a statement, saying it would be his only statement on the matter.

"As chairman of the Texas House Judiciary Committee — I know first-hand that the Texas Justice system works to ensure justice and to safeguard Constitutional liberties and freedoms. And I am confident this case will be no different," his statement said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Legislature: House member served with defamation suit at Capitol