DPS official ordered destruction of records related to Democrats' protest

The order addressed to "Captains" stated: "Any notes, correspondence, photos, etc. that were obtained pursuant to the absconded House of Representative members shall be destroyed immediately. No copies are to be kept. Any questions please contact me."

The order was signed by the commander of the DPS Special Crimes Service, L.C. "Tony" Marshall. It angered the head of a state House panel looking into law enforcement's role in the search.

"That's unbelievable," state Rep. Kevin Bailey, D-Houston, chairman of the House General Investigating Committee, told the newspaper.

"I'm appalled. It would appear as though there is something to hide," said Bailey, who was one of the 51 Democrats who fled to Ardmore, Okla., during the walkout. "And based on some information we've been told inside DPS, it just concerns me more that there were some overzealous people inside the agency. The question is who was driving them so hard. I really am shocked that they would be destroying any internal information."

He said the destruction of records "probably is a crime."

State Rep. Dan Flynn of Van, a GOP member of the House committee, said he found word of the document destruction disturbing.

"If there is something that's being destroyed that's a public record, yeah, that would disturb me," said Flynn, adding that investigating the DPS' role in the search would be a "political football" best left to others.

"Of course, if the speaker tells us to do it we'll go after it, but it just doesn't seem to be an issue that would be in the purview of what we're doing," he said.