SAN ANTONIO – More than seven months after KSAT Investigates revealed the unprecedented, after-hours security detail provided to Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones at her residence, she has authored a memo accusing a city council staffer of refusing to comply with the investigation into how the information got out.
A memo signed by the mayor Wednesday states the chief of staff for District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito had access to security detail information for her home and has failed to comply with a San Antonio Police Department internal affairs probe of the leak.
Recommended Videos
Multiple sources last fall provided KSAT details of the mayor’s home protection plan. District 7 Chief of Staff James Branch was not one of those sources.
Branch did not respond to a phone call seeking comment Thursday.
Multiple media outlets have now reported on the mayor’s home security detail, which was put in place after a man posted a threat against Jones on social media last summer.
In her May 20 memo, the mayor states that 115 SAPD officers have been interviewed as part of the department’s investigation. One of those officers noted that a council aide had access to the security information.
The memo, which does not name Branch but references the District 7 Chief of Staff, states he did not comply with requests from internal affairs from October to March to take part in an in-person interview.
Branch instead provided a statement through his legal counsel, according to the memo.
The mayor wrote that administrative directives would have required the chief of staff to take part in the interview, if he was a city employee.
Council aides, instead, are considered Local Government Corporation (LGC) employees.
The mayor has asked that the city’s administrative directives immediately begin to apply to LGC employees.
Councilwoman Alderete Gavito provided the following statement to KSAT on Thursday afternoon:
This latest action by the Mayor crosses a dangerous line. I chose this profession knowing it comes with public scrutiny and tough criticism. My staff, however, did not. They serve honorably behind the scenes, working diligently to advance initiatives that benefit our city’s residents. They should never be subjected to baseless personal attacks. Accusing a dedicated public servant of wrongdoing without a shred of supporting evidence, especially after an investigation produced none, is unacceptable. I stand firmly with my Chief of Staff and will continue to defend his integrity and his right to due process. The Mayor should immediately retract these unfounded accusations and allow us to focus on the real challenges facing our city, rather than manufacturing conflicts that serve no public purpose. I remain committed to working constructively with the Mayor and my colleagues on behalf of the people we were all elected to serve.
Marina Alderete Gavito, District 7 City Council
Mayor Jones did not respond to an email seeking comment on the memo Thursday.
Mariah Medina, an attorney representing Branch, told KSAT via email, “To be subjected to baseless character assassination from the highest-ranking elected official in the city is both deeply unfair and profoundly intimidating. The San Antonio Police Department interrogated more than 100 officers over the course of this matter. No officer provided evidence of any leak, transmission, or improper handling of sensitive materials by Mr. Branch. The Mayor’s suggestion that the investigation was somehow insufficient ignores the reality of the exhaustive process undertaken, including diverting 115 officers off the streets to submit to questioning. If, after that extensive effort, no evidence existed linking Mr. Branch to this security breach – including an acknowledgement from the reporter who first reported on the security detail – the answer is not to attack constitutional rights or publicly vilify an innocent employee. The answer is to acknowledge the absence of proof. We call on the Mayor to cease these unfounded attacks, retract the defamatory statements, and allow this matter to rest on the actual facts: Mr. Branch had nothing to do with the disclosure of the Mayor’s security information.”
SAPD officials on Thursday told KSAT they had no updates on the internal affairs investigation.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.