Tony Buzbee won’t report information about Deshaun Watson to the Houston Police Department after all

Lawyer Tony Buzbee has said he intends to provide evidence regarding his clients’ allegations of sexual assault against Texas quarterback Deshaun Watson at the Houston Police Department. He did not do it. In a post posted on social media Tuesday night, Buzbee explains his decision not to do so.

“Our team has come under heavy criticism because these many brave women did not file a formal criminal complaint with the HPD (although we did provide information to other organizations),” Buzbee said on Instagram. “Here is my concern. When I ran for mayor of Houston against the CURRENT mayor, I called for the resignation of the former chief of police. So I was initially reluctant in these important cases to provide information to the HPD, at least when Art Acevedo was the police chief – even though my brother-in-law is a long-time HPD officer. Mr. Acevedo has now moved from Houston to Miami. Yet I have since learned that my legal opponent, Mr. Hardin, has a son who is on the exclusive HPD staff. I’m not saying at all that Deshaun Watson’s attorney, Mr. Hardin, has a son who has a position that would compromise HPD and its investigation. I support his service, and all the cops in Houston – I think the base knows that. But I say my clients and I will go elsewhere to provide our evidence to the investigating authorities. Be ready.”

This is the first Buzbee has said about any hesitation he has when it comes to providing information to the Houston Police Department. It also seems odd to think that the authorities would ignore or ignore the allegations made by 19 different women based on factors other than whether the authorities believe, based on the evidence provided, that a crime has been committed. Buzbee is not one of the victims; it is their lawyer. The idea that the Houston Police Department has a bad opinion of its clients’ efforts to seek justice simply because of the identity of their lawyer takes cynicism to new heights. (It also suggests that the best interests of these women would arguably be better served by hiring different lawyers.)

Buzbee preceded his comments regarding his concerns about the Houston Police Department with the following message to the media at large: “This is our legal team’s response to the hundreds of requests we have received at our Houston office for comment; even though we have a large staff, your requests are overwhelming! We will continue to abide by our conduct with Texas Lawyer Ethics Rules. We take our obligations very seriously. We will say it once and encourage those who ask to pay attention to our public documents, rather than lawyers’ statements in the media. These cases of Deshaun Watson continue to rise; we tabled two more public business today. “

Deshaun Watson has denied any wrongdoing, and the cases (unless settled) will go through the court system and eventually brought to justice.