AUSTIN — Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen will not face criminal charges for a June meeting in which an activist alleged the powerful politician offered him a quid pro quo, the local district attorney tasked with looking into the case said on Thursday.

While Bonnen’s hometown prosecutor issued a statement condemning his behavior as “repugnant,” she said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the speaker for bribery or other impropriety. Meanwhile, Bonnen’s office seized on Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne’s decision not to prosecute as setting “a dangerous precedent” in which an innocent politician can be driven from office without a fair process.

“As repugnant as Speaker Bonnen’s actions and statements are, I do not believe there is sufficient evidence from the June 12, 2019, meeting to warrant a criminal prosecution of Speaker Bonnen for Bribery or Solicitation of a Gift by a Public Servant, therefore no criminal charges will be brought," Yenne said in a statement.

Bonnen was facing allegations of official misconduct stemming from a June 12 meeting in his Capitol office with conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan. In that meeting, Sullivan alleged that Bonnen and a top ally, GOP Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock, had offered writers for Sullivan’s website, Texas Scorecard, press credentials in the next legislative session if he and his affiliated political group, Empower Texans, refrained from criticizing the legislative session and targeting 10 fellow Republicans in next year’s primary elections.

Bonnen was also heard disparaging fellow lawmakers. That included describing female lawmakers as “vile” and “heinous” and mockingly calling into question the sexual orientation of another lawmaker. Bonnen and Burrows also expressed contempt for city and county officials and a desire to make the next legislative session the worst yet for local governments.

In a statement, Bonnen spokeswoman Cait Meisenheimer said he appreciated the Texas Rangers’ “thorough examination and the DA’s confirmation of no wrongdoing. While justice prevailed today, unfortunately, the damage has been done.”

“It is unfortunate that a surreptitiously obtained 64-minute recording turned into a ten week investigation and ultimately ended with the defamation of a man’s quarter-century in public service,” Meisenheimer continued. “Today’s decision by the District Attorney deflates Michael Quinn Sullivan’s entire reason for going public three months ago — that, according to him, the Speaker solicited a bribe and broke the law.

"Unfortunately, we now live in a political climate where one is guilty until proven innocent, and not only has that thrown the ability of Republicans to hold onto our House majority into jeopardy, it sets a dangerous precedent moving forward. Speaker Bonnen fully cooperated throughout the investigation, and out of respect for the process, refrained from publicly weighing in on the matter until its final resolution.”

Following Yenne’s decision, Sullivan questioned the legitimacy of the criminal justice system.

“Texans should ask themselves why men like [President Donald Trump], Tom DeLay, [Energy Secretary Rick Perry] and [Attorney General Ken Paxton] get indicted for little or nothing, but unethical guys like [Bonnen] don’t,” he said on Twitter. “The answer is simple: the criminal justice system is highly political and often illegitimate.”

Texans should ask themselves why men like @realDonaldTrump, Tom Delay, @SecretaryPerry, & @KenPaxtonTX get indicted for little or nothing, but unethical guys like @RepDennisBonnen don’t. The answer is simple: the criminal justice system is highly political and often illegitimate. https://t.co/OUFc0CGpRW — Michael Quinn Sullivan (@MQSullivan) October 24, 2019

Manny Garcia, the executive director of the Texas Democratic Party, also questioned the decision not to prosecute saying “Texans deserve to know if the corrupt Republican Speaker and the Republican Brazoria County District Attorney arranged a deal for him to step down instead of being dragged to court and jail.”

“Texans know exactly what the Republican Speaker of the House said behind closed doors and now they deserve justice. So, where are the grand juries, subpoenas, and comprehensive reports?” he said in a statement. “This is about the law and justice for Texans. Texans are pretty damn tired of Republican coverups, back-room deals, and charades.”

Sullivan’s allegations in July and subsequent release of a secret recording of the meeting threw the state Republican Party into chaos, with some activists and fellow lawmakers calling for Bonnen’s resignation. On Tuesday, Bonnen announced he would not seek reelection to the Texas House, forfeiting his claim to the speaker’s gavel in the next legislative session. Burrows had been forced to resign as chairman of the House Republican Caucus following the allegations, but plans to seek reelection next year.

Burrows’ fate following the investigation remains unclear. On Tuesday, the Texas Rangers, tapped by a House panel to look into the Bonnen-Burrows-Sullivan conversation, turned over their investigation to Yenne. She would have been in charge of prosecuting Bonnen. As of Wednesday, though, prosecutors in Lubbock County, where Burrows lives, said they had not received a report on the matter from the Rangers.

Burrows did not immediately return a request for comment.

In a two-page statement, Yenne outlined the rationale for her decision. As the local prosecutor in Bonnen’s home county, state law puts allegations of public corruption by a state lawmaker in her jurisdiction. The law allows the local prosecutor to recuse themselves, but Yenne opted not to do that.

“That is not the right thing to do. District Attorneys are elected to make tough decisions,” she said. “Passing this responsibility to another District Attorney would only cause undue delay for many months and another District Attorney would be in no better position to make a decision.”

The probe into Bonnen began on Aug. 12 when the House General Investigating Committee asked the Texas Rangers to investigate allegations of wrongdoing at the meeting. The Rangers were seen as an objective third party that would help the committee avoid an appearance of bias while investigating a colleague and the most powerful member of the House.

Yenne joined that investigation a day later and worked with the Rangers for more than two months. She said the investigation consisted of numerous witness interviews, a collection of supporting documentation, obtaining written and recorded statements and collecting physical evidence, including Sullivan’s secret recording of the meeting.

That recording was scientifically authenticated, Yenne said, and Bonnen, Burrows and Sullivan verified their voices on the recording.

Yenne said the behavior and statements on the recording “are offensive, lacking in character and integrity, demeaning to other human beings including local government officials, cities and counties, and the Members of the Texas House of Representatives who placed their confidence in Speaker Bonnen and are entitled to his respect.”

Noting that she is a local government official, Yenne added: “The disparaging statements of Speaker Bonnen about local government officials, cities and counties and the statements of Representative Burrows indicating his hatred of cities and counties and his intent to harm local governments int the next Legislative Session are disappointing and disturbing.”

Now that Yenne has decided not to prosecute Bonnen, attention turns back to the House General Investigating Committee which has hired a bipartisan panel of three lawyers to help the panel decide what to do with the Ranger investigation.