AUSTIN — Nearly eight months after the revelation of a scandal that forced him to retire early, House Speaker Dennis Bonnen broke his silence on the secret meeting with a conservative activist in which he and top lieutenant Rep. Dustin Burrows targeted 10 fellow Republicans in their primary elections.

In his first public interview since the meeting was made public last July, Bonnen said Tuesday on the Chad Hasty Radio Show that he “screwed up badly” in the meeting and apologized for “running my mouth” while defending the reason for having the meeting and denying that the goal was to target Republicans. He said he did not apologize for taking the meeting, which he said was aimed at sparing Republicans from primary challengers.

“I did a horrible job. I screwed up badly,” he said. “As I told people, if you want to hate me, I gave you reason to hate me and if you want to love me, I gave you reason to love me.”

In last year’s meeting at his Capitol office, Bonnen offered conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan media credentials for his website, Texas Scorecard, if Sullivan refrained from criticizing last year’s legislative session and went after a group of Republican incumbents.

Bonnen then stepped out of the meeting and let Burrows give Sullivan a list of GOP legislators to target in this year’s primary elections. The list included Reps. Tan Parker of Flower Mound, Steve Allison of San Antonio, Trent Ashby of Lufkin, Ernest Bailes of Shepherd, Travis Clardy of Nacogdoches, Drew Darby of San Angelo, Kyle Kacal and John Raney of College Station, Stan Lambert of Abilene and Phil Stephenson of Wharton.

Bonnen said he’s “apologized repeatedly” to members he targeted and said he had spoken to most of them, though some are unwilling to talk to him. He said that he did not go into the meeting with a list of members to target but that they were all lawmakers who voted against a bill to ban local governments from using taxpayer money to advocate in Austin.

Bonnen, who championed representatives “voting their district" during the session, implied that those lawmakers ought to stand behind the vote, which he and Burrows ultimately used to target them.

“Respectfully to all of them, it’s a record vote that they proudly stood behind and that’s what we always have to do,” he said. “You stand behind the vote you take. It’s that simple.”

Darby told The Dallas Morning News he felt compelled to respond after listening to Bonnen’s interview Tuesday morning.

“While he attempts to ‘set the record straight’ by touting his exoneration of legal wrongdoing by the Texas Rangers and House General Investigating Committee, he gravely misses the mark,” Darby said in a statement. “What Speaker Bonnen and Representative Burrows did in their secret, recorded meeting with activist Michael Quinn Sullivan is degrade decent members of the House of Representatives, target a small and select group of Republicans who voted in the best interest of their district rather than with the political desire of the Speaker, and belittle constituent groups who had confidence in them to lead. Texans deserve better than backroom deals.”

Bonnen’s biggest apology was reserved for Burrows, his close ally, whom he asked to be in the meeting as a witness. Burrows was forced to resign as head of the Republican Caucus as a result of the targeting scandal.

“Mr. Burrows has done absolutely nothing wrong and he and his family have been attacked,” Bonnen said, his voice cracking. “And it’s unfair.”

“He did what happens in the Capitol every day … and he’s been put through hell for doing so,” Bonnen added. “And it’s my fault. And I’m very sorry for that.”

Bonnen did not offer an apology to local government officials, whom he described in last year’s meeting as “dumbasses," and said his goal was to make the last session the “worst in history” for cities and counties. Burrows added in the meeting with Sullivan that he hoped the “next session’s even worse.”

The offer to Sullivan during the June 12 meeting was made only two weeks after Bonnen told reporters at the end of the session that he would punish any incumbents who campaigned against other incumbents in the 2020 elections.

Though Bonnen offered in the meeting to give Sullivan press credentials for his website (“I’ll put your guys on the floor”), he said Tuesday that he did a bad job of explaining to Sullivan that he could not get press credentials if he continued to remain politically active.

“If I did anything wrong, I didn’t remind him that if he continued to be politically active, there’s no way that would happen,” Bonnen said.

Bonnen also did not discuss his offer to revoke veteran Capitol journalist Scott Braddock’s press credentials.

Bonnen initially denied providing Sullivan a target list, saying the sole purpose for the meeting was to persuade Sullivan not to spend money targeting Republicans in primaries as his political action committee, Empower Texans, had done in the past. Bonnen said he did so at the behest of “some gentlemen," though he did not specify who they were.

He said Tuesday that he had only denied having committed a criminal act.

“Mr. Sullivan accused me of bribing him; that’s a serious offense. In my mind, that’s all that mattered and that has been proven to be untrue," he said. “The Texas Rangers investigated and the district attorney put out a statement saying there’s nothing here to charge.”

Soon after the meeting, Sullivan revealed he had secretly recorded the conversation and threatened to release it publicly if Bonnen and Burrows did not apologize for their actions. He then began letting select Republican lawmakers, operatives and activists listen to the recording at his office.

Over three months, more information about the recording dripped out in news reports and lawmakers launched a Rangers investigation. Still, Bonnen denied wrongdoing while Burrows, a lawyer, remained mostly silent.

In October, ahead of a Republican caucus retreat in Austin, Sullivan released the recording, which largely substantiated all his claims. On the recording, Bonnen is also heard calling Democratic lawmakers “vile” and “heinous” and saying that one Houston lawmaker, Democrat Jon Rosenthal, who is married to a woman, is gay. Rosenthal accepted an apology from Bonnen in a joint statement in August, a move that Bonnen praised.

Bonnen also boasted in the recording about recruiting a candidate to run against freshman Democratic incumbent James Talarico of Round Rock, in direct contradiction to his edict at the end of session.

After a fraught caucus meeting in October where lawmakers condemned Bonnen’s actions, a plurality of Republican House members began calling for his resignation as speaker.

The final blow came Oct. 21 when several lawmakers, including four top chairmen and once-Bonnen allies, called for his resignation. The next morning, Bonnen said he would not seek re-election but, to the chagrin of many Republicans, would serve out the rest of his term as speaker, which will end this year.

Days later, Bonnen’s hometown prosecutor, who joined the Rangers investigation, told lawmakers his actions were “repugnant” but there was not sufficient evidence to prosecute him for bribery or other impropriety. Because of that, Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne said she could bring no charges against him.

A three-lawyer panel hired by the House General Investigating Committee to give recommendations on the Rangers’ investigation also declined to press for charges. The bipartisan panel said Bonnen likely violated some state laws but recommended against prosecution because there was scant evidence and no clear mechanism for punishment.

Still, Bonnen has used that report to claim absolution, as he did in Tuesday’s interview.

Bonnen has been on the defensive in recent days. On Sunday, he published an op-ed column in his hometown paper objecting to how it had described the actions that led to his resignation. He said it was “time to set the record straight once and for all” and wanted to send a message to “the chattering class in Austin” that “You may all go to hell and I will go to Brazoria County," where he lives.

Near the end of the radio interview, Bonnen said he had mixed feelings about taking the meeting. He was glad he tried to push Sullivan to tamp down his attacks on Republicans during a difficult election year in 2020.

“In that sense, I’d do it again to protect Republicans and to protect our viability in 2020,” he said. “However, when it comes to the impact it’s had on my family, on Mr. Burrows, my reputation and others, I wish I called in sick that day. You live and learn.”