Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
A Texas House candidate and police officer backed by former President Donald Trump and top Texas Republicans has been indicted on a charge of impersonating a public servant, according to authorities.
Dallas police said Friday that Frederick Frazier was placed on administrative leave after the department was notified that a Collin County grand jury indicted him. Impersonating a public servant is a third-degree felony.
Frazier turned himself in to the Richardson jail Friday and posted bond, said Teddy Yoshida, a spokesperson for the Richardson Police Department.
It is unclear what the specific allegations against Frazier are, and a spokesperson for the Collin County district attorney's office was not immediately available for comment.
Responding to the indictment, Frazier's campaign blamed his Republican primary runoff opponent, Paul Chabot, who had suggested Frazier posed as a city code compliance officer to get Chabot's campaign signs taken down at a Walmart. In a statement, Frazier's campaign said Chabot, who has run for office multiple times before, is "trying to overturn the results of that election by bringing up trumped complaints to law enforcement and testifying before a grand jury."
"Frederick Frazier is looking forward to having the opportunity to defend himself in court, where we are confident jurors will see through Chabot's lies in the same way that voters have five times before," the statement said.
John Thomas, Chabot's consultant, issued a statement on Frazier's indictment:
"An independent grand jury was empaneled and determined that Mr. Frazier committed multiple felonies. In fact, it was the Rangers and the McKinney PD who uncovered the felonies. Frazier's lying and deceit knows no limits. He committed crimes and refuses to fess up. He is a disgrace to himself and to those who dawn a badge in law enforcement. Paul Chabot demands Frazier have one shred of decency and immediately drop out of the race as it's crucial that both a Republican and candidate with integrity represent the people of the 61st district."
Frazier easily won the Republican primary runoff last month for House District 61, an open seat in Collin County that leans Republican. A well-known advocate for law enforcement in Austin, Frazier had the backing of Trump, Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and state House Speaker Dade Phelan. The Democratic nominee in the race is Sheena King.
During the runoff, Chabot spoke out about the alleged theft of dozens of his campaign signs. In one incident, Chabot said a Walmart store manager told him someone claiming to work for city code compliance came in and told the store to take down Chabot's signs because they were illegally placed. Chabot said he reported that to the police.
The Texas Rangers ultimately looked into his claims. Chabot later obtained a report from the Rangers through a public records request that said the agency investigated Frazier in February for "alleged criminal violations … of Impersonating a Public Servant and potentially related Theft."
At the time, Frazier's campaign consultant, Craig Murphy, said his candidate denied any wrongdoing and called Chabot's claims "frivolous."
Texas Scorecard and Steven Monacelli, a freelance journalist who extensively covered the campaign sign controversy for Rolling Stone, were among the first to report Friday that Frazier had been indicted.
Join us Sept. 22-24 in person in downtown Austin for The Texas Tribune Festival and experience 100+ conversation events featuring big names you know and others you should from the worlds of politics, public policy, the media and tech — all curated by The Texas Tribune's award-winning journalists. Buy tickets.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/24/texas-house-candidate-indicted/.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
