Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s top advisers handed a state regulator a confidential road map for targeting a Muslim community, then pushed him out after he publicly contradicted Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to records obtained by Texas Monthly.
In March 2025, Abbott’s lawyers walked Travis Iles, then commissioner of the Texas State Securities Board, through a nine-page memo with no letterhead, date or listed author. It cited “foreign adversarial interests” and identified the East Plano Islamic Center, known as EPIC, as the threat. It then laid out legal avenues against the mosque and its planned EPIC City housing development, from fair housing and tax law to funeral licensing. One paragraph suggested EPIC could face prosecution for material support for terrorism.
Over the following days, several agencies announced probes echoing the memo’s theories, including Paxton’s office, the Texas Workforce Commission, the funeral commission, the Texas Rangers and the state environmental agency. Paxton’s demand for EPIC’s records was finalized right after one of his scheduled meetings with the governor’s office, his calendar shows, and he later told Fox News he had “been directed” to investigate.
Iles’ team of six career regulators and attorneys concluded EPIC City wasn’t selling securities, because buyers were acquiring land rights for their own use rather than investing passively for profit. A former Texas securities commissioner told Texas Monthly the deal sounded “more like a real estate transaction than a security.”
Paxton declared in October 2025 that the developer had “flagrantly and undeniably” broken securities laws, without warning the board. When Iles asked to see his evidence, Paxton’s deputy refused to share it, Texas Monthly reported.
As the developer threatened to sue, Abbott’s lawyers presented Iles with a pre-written declaration. He spent about an hour, he said, removing language he felt would amount to perjury. The final version said his agency “has not been provided with corresponding evidence,” while noting he had asked Paxton to “take action as the Attorney General deemed appropriate.”
In an email, Iles wrote that he did not believe the deals were securities and suggested a consumer protection case instead. Paxton filed a securities suit anyway, and the lawsuit credited the board’s probe with finding violations Iles never identified.
When Fox News reported Iles had found “flagrant” violations, he emailed his deputy with the subject line “Horses--t” and called the lawsuit “Corrupt.” He then publicly called the claim “a wholly false statement.”
After Iles shared that statement with Abbott adviser Daniel Mittnacht, Mittnacht spoke with the board’s chair for 33 minutes, call records show. The chair then told Iles the governor’s office wanted his immediate resignation, Iles said. Before submitting it two days later, he sent Mittnacht 29 pages of top-rated performance reviews.
“Good deeds and public service go punished,” Iles wrote.
Paxton, now the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate, was indicted for securities fraud in 2015 and settled the case in 2024. Abbott’s press secretary said state agencies are “ultimately accountable” to the governor, and that Abbott “will take action against any group that seeks to violate our Constitution and laws, regardless of faith.” Paxton’s office did not respond to questions.
The securities case against EPIC goes to a jury in June 2027.