Gov. Greg Abbott's emails with Elon Musk may indeed remain private after a court decided to pause an order giving his Democrat gubernatorial challenger access to the unredacted communications.
Texas' 15th Court of Appeals on Tuesday issued a stay on a lower court's ruling granting state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, who's running in a tight race against Abbott, access to the documents.
On Monday, State District Judge Catherine Mauzy had ordered Abbott's office to allow Hinojosa to inspect the records by 10 a.m. Thursday — a move Abbott immediately appealed.
Monday's decision was in response to a lawsuit the candidate filed earlier this month.
"This was a sham lawsuit in a rigged district court," said Abbott spokesman Andrew Mahaleris in a statement celebrating Tuesday's stay.
"The trial court judge refused to follow the law and rubber-stamped an illegal fishing expedition into the Governor's Office. The appeals court rightly froze this abuse of process," Mahaleris added.
Hinojosa has said she want access to the documents due to "the growing power of tech CEOs in Texas." In her lawsuit, Hinojosa argued she had a right to view the communications as a member of the Texas Legislature.
The three justices who make up the 15th Court of Appeals justices were all appointed by the governor: Chief Justice Scott Brister and Justices Scott Field and April Farris. They have served since the court opened in September 2024, following legislation Abbott signed in 2023.
Abbott also made a separate request to force dismissal of Hinojosa's lawsuit, which remains unresolved. The court gave Hinojosa 14 days to respond to that request.
Complicating the case even more: Abbott's general counsel, Trevor Ezell, accused Hinojosa of "handpicking one of her own campaign donors to serve as judge" in an Oct. 27 letter filed with the court.
Mauzy donated $500 to Hinojosa's campaign on June 24, Bloomberg Law reported.
Texas law allows judges to make campaign donations with personal funds but restricts their use of campaign contributions to support other candidates. Ezell argued the donation could violate election law depending on the source of the money. His letter does not establish that source.
Additionally, Ezell accused Hinojosa of timing the lawsuit's filing to ensure it fell to Mauzy. Travis County's posted schedule lists Mauzy as the emergency duty judge for Oct. 26–28.
Abbott's general counsel also asked the appeals court to remove Mauzy from further proceedings. That's because Texas rules require judges to recuse themselves when their impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
The appeals court's order, however, did not address those allegations.
Responding to the donation issue, Hinojosa campaign spokesman Tommy Kubitschek told Bloomberg Law: "If they are worried about $500, just wait until they find out what $5.5 million bought Musk."
Hinojosa filed the lawsuit Oct. 19 after being unable to obtain the records in her official capacity as a state lawmaker.
The dispute over Gov. Abbott and Musk's communications arose from The Texas Newsroom's 2025efforts to obtain documents involving conversations between Abbott's office and Musk's companies. The governor's office ultimately provided 1,374 pages, of which all but about 200 were entirely blacked out.
Abbott is seeking a fourth term as governor. If the Republican wins, it would put him on track to become the longest-serving governor in Texas history.
Early voting ends Friday, Oct. 30. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
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