Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has enlisted the help of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office in prosecuting three former staffers of County Judge Lina Hidalgo. The trio is charged with manipulating the acquisition process of an $11 million COVID-19 vaccine outreach contract, favoring the consultancy Elevate Strategies. As reported by the Houston Chronicle, Ogg's decision follows her defeat in the Democratic primary to former prosecutor Sean Teare, raising questions about her motives and the political undercurrents influencing the legal process.

Ogg, who steadfastly maintained that the rule of law must reign supreme throughout her tenure, has opted not to recuse her office from the case. Instead, she made a point of ushering Paxton's office into the fray. “I will never sit idly by and let public corruption cases be dismissed, swept under the carpet, or even allow the rule of law to be overwhelmed by politics," Ogg stated during a news conference.

Paxton's office, meanwhile, has clarified its role, stating it will assist the district attorney’s office, as cited by the Houston Public Media. The cases involve Aaron Dunn, Wallis Nader, and Alex Triantaphyllis, ex-aides to Hidalgo, who were indicted by a grand jury on charges of misusing official information and tampering with government documents. These allegations arise from their implication in the supposed funneling of the lucrative contract towards Elevate's owner Felicity Pereyra by allegedly granting her early insight into project details.

Criticism of Ogg's maneuver comes from various quarters. One such critique is lodged by Derek Hollingsworth, attorney for the accused former staffer Aaron Dunn. He has voiced concerns about the case's political undertones. "This prosecution has been political from the beginning," Hollingsworth pointed out, “Merely asking the attorney general to come in to either take over or ride shotgun doesn’t fix that problem — it only exacerbates it.” he revealed in a statement obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

Hidalgo herself has dismissed the charges against her former staffers as "political" and “baseless.” She critiqued Ogg for sending the case to somebody who is constantly engaged in political attacks against me and Harris County, according to her statement. The controversy around this legal drama further skyrockets as Attorney General Paxton had already been in legal contention with Harris County over its Uplift Harris program, only deepening the political rift.