Indicted Harris County staffers, DA at odds over bond conditions

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo's indicted staffers are fighting with the district attorney's office over bond conditions following allegations they steered a multi-million dollar county contract to a particular vendor.

At a court appearance Friday morning, lawyers for the three county staffers accused in the bid steering scheme told a judge the trio has to be able to do their jobs. They claim some of that involves dealing with how Harris County spends money.

Alex Triantaphyllis, who is Hidalgo's current chief of staff but was her deputy chief of staff at the time the allegations took place, Aaron Dunn, then a senior advisor for public safety and emergency management at the county, and Wallis Nader, who is Hidalgo's deputy policy director, were indicted in April. Each one of them was indicted on one count of misuse of official information and one count of tampering with a government record.

Triantaphyllis and Nader still work at Hidalgo's office. Dunn left for a job at the Harris County Flood Control District in March.

The district attorney's office asked a judge to bar the group from even talking about proposed deals.

The defense lawyers fought back saying that it is a part of their job. It is also, however, part of the search warrants in this case that talking about how deals come together led to the indictments.

No decision was made on Friday. They will all be back in court in mid-June.

RELATED: Harris County senior staffers indicted in $11M contract investigation appear in court

For the latest investigations, follow Ted on Facebook and Twitter.

Have a tip for Ted Oberg? A problem to solve? Get in touch with us on our tip page, or send a tip below. (On mobile? You can open our form by tapping here.)