RICHMOND, Texas (Covering Katy News) — The defense rested its case Wednesday in the felony money-laundering trial of Fort Bend County Judge KP George, setting up closing arguments Thursday morning before the 12-member jury begins deliberations in a case that has shadowed the county's political landscape for more than a year.
Much of Wednesday's proceedings centered on the continued testimony of Andy Taylor, an election law attorney who has spent most of his career handling campaign finance litigation for Republican candidates and officeholders. Taylor previously served as first assistant to then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn, where his duties included matters before the Texas Ethics Commission, which oversees campaign finance reporting in the state.
Testifying under direct examination by lead defense attorney Jared Woodfill, Taylor told jurors that based on his review of bank and credit card records, the majority of the funds at issue in the money-laundering allegations were credit card purchases George made for campaign purposes — not personal spending.
Taylor said he conducted his own analysis of George's campaign finances, drawing on records dating to George's first, unsuccessful run for county treasurer in 2009, and concluded that by the 2018 election cycle, the discrepancy between reported and actual loan repayments amounted to just over $800 — well below the $2,500 threshold the Texas Ethics Commission requires to pursue a complaint. Taylor also told jurors that the campaign finance report at the center of the case covers only about 65 days at the end of 2018 and does not require disclosure of financial activity from earlier that year.
Taylor also reiterated that under a TEC advisory opinion, Texas candidates may carry loans they made to their own campaigns from one election cycle to the next and are not required to report those loans on every subsequent campaign finance filing, though they may do so if they choose.
Prosecutors have argued that George moved money between personal and campaign accounts without properly reporting it, alleging he misused political funds. Betty Chi, the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office fraud examiner who testified earlier for the prosecution, was allowed to offer rebuttal testimony after lengthy argument between attorneys before 458th District Court Judge Maggie Perez-Jaramillo. Chi challenged Taylor's accounting, saying the credit card expenditures Taylor characterized as campaign-related were almost entirely personal — including homeowners association fees, medical bills and shopping trips to Costco.
After the jury was dismissed for the day, Perez-Jaramillo allowed prosecutors to present testimony from a translator fluent in George's native Indian dialect. The translator reviewed a social media video George posted shortly before the March 3 primary in which George said that at the close of his 2009 campaign he had loaned his campaign $70,000, that he later repaid himself and that he had provided clear accounting of the transactions. George said in the video that the practice is common in U.S. politics.
Prosecutors argued the video contradicts the defense's theory of the case, but Perez-Jaramillo ruled it could not be used as rebuttal evidence before the jury, saying prosecutors had possessed the video for about two weeks but introduced it at virtually the last minute, giving the defense no opportunity to secure its own translator to verify the translation. The testimony was preserved for the record for potential appellate purposes.
George was a Democrat when he allegedly committed the crimes. He later switched parties after being charged with money laundering, a felony, by District Attorney Brian Middleton, a Democrat. Running as a Republican, George lost his bid for the GOP nomination in the March 3 primary. The money-laundering charges played a prominent role in that race.
If convicted, George would not be allowed to complete his term in office. If acquitted, he would serve out his full term, which expires Dec. 31, 2026.
Who we are: Covering Katy News is independently owned and operated by professional journalists with more than 50 years of combined experience. Unlike many other local media outlets, we do not accept special purpose district funding — such as from MUDs, drainage districts or other taxing entities — nor do we accept funding from any government source, whether municipal, county, state or federal. We are self-sustaining — no outside investors — supported entirely by local advertisers. Our owner and publisher, Dennis Spellman, and his staff live locally, so we understand local issues. Since 2022, Spellman has also served county residents in a communications role for Fort Bend County Pct. 3. Since our founding in 2011, our editorial decisions have been made independently — and that will never change.