Dear Nico,

This column could have been about a hard-charging district attorney (that’s you) fulfilling a campaign pledge, cracking down on a baby killer. When you ran for office, you made Bexar County’s high child abuse and neglect numbers a central concern.

Your drive to indict Genene Jones, a former nurse suspected of killing more than a dozen infants at San Antonio’s county hospital more than three decades ago, fits this narrative well.

Instead on Thursday, you excluded a San Antonio Express-News reporter, photographer and columnist (that was me) from attending a news conference at your office: presumably, a briefing on two new murder charges handed down against Jones.

Was it something we said?

As Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood, you’re leading a fresh investigation into those deaths to prevent Jones from being freed from prison next March.

That’s a great story for a local newspaper.

It’s also a great story for you personally. Judging from the multiple press conferences you’ve called to announce new murder charges against Jones, you’re aware of this as well. Otherwise, why dribble them out this way?

But Thursday, you sent one of your investigators, Brian King, into a hallway of the Paul Elizondo Tower to inform the media assembled there that no one employed by the San Antonio Express-News was permitted to attend the press conference.

“It’s a private meeting,” King said as other journalists entered a door marked “Authorized Personnel Only.”

“It’s in a secure office,” King continued. “It’s in a secure part of the building. It’s not in a public part of the building. And so, I’ve been asked just to let y’all know that at this point, for you guys not to come into this meeting.”

King would not say why you singled us out, Nico.

Last week, you did the same to San Antonio Express-News reporter Bruce Selcraig, who learned from another reporter that you’d called a press conference about a new murder charge against Jones. When Selcraig arrived, he was herded into a side room and not permitted to attend the press conference with the other reporters.

This must have been another “private meeting.”

You did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

And so, Nico, I’m wondering: Was it something we said?

Was it the January 2015 column about how you abused your power as district attorney to quash the job prospects of a professional rival?

Was it the August 2016 column about how you abused your power as district attorney to peddle a dangerous and discredited notion that “vaccines can and do cause autism”?

Or was it the April 2017 editorial about how you might have abused your power as district attorney by threatening to destroy the legal practices of two defense lawyers?

Are you noticing a trend here, Nico?

Apparently, that recent editorial struck a nerve. Last month, you released a statement accusing the San Antonio Express-News of publishing fake news because, for some reason, we want to hurt you.

“There is clearly an agenda to attack me and the District Attorney’s office,” you wrote. “They continuously ignore the truth and fail to report the facts. I have always been transparent, available and willing to discuss all issues with any member of the community or media.”

Clearly, that last sentence is no longer true.

Here’s my theory on why:

You have a temper, Nico. You’re driven by revenge. And you have a persecution complex.

In other words: It is something we said.

The problem is, when a newspaper says things, that’s called reporting. Reporting is composed of facts. As an opinion columnist, I marshal facts to support my arguments. In any case, you’ve never challenged the accuracy of anything that we’ve reported in particular. You’ve only complained, with pretension but no evidence, that it’s unfair.

Now, by excluding us from press conferences on a matter of public interest, you’re continuing the trend that we have repeatedly observed and reported.

Once again, Nico, you are abusing your power as district attorney.

bchasnoff@express-news.net