Transgender rights group seeks court order to help identify source of mysterious mailers
A Travis County judge is set to hear arguments Tuesday in a case that could provide the first legal pathway toward identifying who is behind controversial transgender mailers sent to homes across Texas.
The Transgender Education Network of Texas, known as TENT, says its name and photographs were used without permission in the mailers. The organization is seeking pre-lawsuit discovery, a legal process that allows potential plaintiffs to gather information before filing a lawsuit.
The effort comes as questions continue to swirl around who is behind the mailers.
A CBS News Texas I-Team investigation found the name listed on the flyer's return address traces back to a Wyoming limited liability company, while a postal permit printed on the mailer is linked to an Illinois printing company.
As CBS News Texas first reported, the U.S. Postal Service identified the permit holder as Three Z Printing. However, a postal permit alone does not establish who created or paid for the mailers. It remains unclear what role, if any, the company played beyond the use of its permit.
Three Z Printing is owned by Bill Zerrusen and his three sons, including Matt Zerrusen, who lives in North Texas. CBS News Texas contacted the company and members of the Zerrusen family on Friday, but had not received a response as of Monday, Oct. 26.
Last week, CBS News Texas visited the Sheridan, Wyoming, address associated with Texas Transgender Student Union LLC, the Wyoming company listed on the mailer.
State business records show Texas Transgender Student Union LLC was formed just weeks ago. The company used a registered-agent service in Sheridan, Wyoming, to create the LLC and listed the service's Wyoming address as its business address.
After the CBS News Texas I-Team visited its Wyoming office, Northwest Registered Agent told CBS News Texas it is "immediately beginning the process to officially resign as the registered agent for the Texas Transgender Student Union."
The mailers have generated strong reactions online from across the political spectrum.
Some Democratic activists have suggested the mailers were designed to provoke Republican voters, while some Republicans have publicly condemned the content of the flyers themselves.
The mailers began appearing in Texas mailboxes as transgender-related political advertising was already airing on television ahead of the election.
Both the Paxton and Talarico campaigns told CBS News Texas they have no connection to the mailers.
Tuesday's hearing is not expected to determine who sent the flyers or whether any laws were broken. TENT is asking a judge to allow its attorneys to question the Wyoming LLC named on the mailer, as well as a text-messaging company linked to messages that also used TENT's name and directed recipients to the organization's website.
