Name: Congressman Roger Williams pressured a bank to help out a donor, records show
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Congressman Roger Williams pressured a bank to help out a donor, records show

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AUSTIN — U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, a Central Texas Republican and member of the House Financial Services Committee, used his powerful post in Congress to try to help a top donor in his dealings with a publicly traded bank, court records show.The controversy spilled out into a Texas bankruptcy case after Williams tried to broker a meeting between the wealthy donor — oil field investor Gary Martin of Marble Falls — and the CEO of UMB Financial Corp., which owns UMB Bank. The bank’s lawyer voiced objections to the “pressure” tactic and UMB ultimately declined to set up a meeting.The congressman said in a deposition taken July 25 that he saw nothing wrong with the attempted assist, but one of UMB’s lawyers saw it differently: Attorney Kyle Hirsch testified under oath that Williams’ intervention exerted inappropriate pressure on UMB and that unless the CEO agreed to meet with his donor there could be problems for the bank in Congress.More from Jay Root“The Congressman indicated that his role on the Financial Services Committee included legislation that was coming down the pike and that he was urging the bank to meet with his constituent or there would be adverse consequences as it relates to his role on the Financial Services Committee,” Hirsch said, according to his deposition in the case.The constituent Hirsch was referring to, Martin, is listed in corporate paperwork as a manager of Repeat Precision, a fracking tool company with a headquarters in Austin. Campaign finance records show Martin is a generous supporter of Williams, having given him and the Roger Williams Victory Fund more than $25,000 since 2012.Williams declined an interview request from the Houston Chronicle, but he voluntarily provided his deposition transcript in the bankruptcy case. In his sworn testimony, Williams describes his efforts on behalf of Martin — calling a bank executive to try to facilitate a meeting — as the kind of routine service he provides to constituents and said “I did not see myself as interfering” in the bankruptcy case.He said that during the call with the executive he “may have” mentioned his post on the House committee but could not remember it — one of at least 19 instances during that deposition in which the 71-year-old congressman said he could not recall key details under oath.Williams spokesman Colby Hale said the congressman had been “dragged into the mess when (Hirsch) wrongly speculated on a conversation he wasn’t even a part of.”“That lawyer’s own client had to set the record straight with the court and the judge warned the attorneys about their reckless assertions being made in the case, thereby affirming that the congressman’s actions were appropriate and consistent with his obligation to assist constituents and businesses in his district,” Hale said.Martin, who described himself a “prolific Republican donor” and said he’s known Williams for decades, dismissed the idea that campaign contributions might have something to do with the congressman’s decision to help him.“We’re personal friends,” Martin said. “I don’t need to buy his help.”Williams, who grew up in Fort Worth and continued in the family auto dealer business started by his father, was first elected to Congress in 2012. He represents a Republican-leaning district stretching from the Austin area to Tarrant County.Martin said he wanted Williams to help him get a meeting with UMB Financial’s CEO, Mariner Kemper, to discuss a multi-million dollar loan package he said the bank was prepared to provide to Diamondback, the company Repeat Precision has been battling in the court system. The bank declined comment, citing the pending litigation.Both the bank and Repeat Precision are listed as creditors in Diamondback’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. In a letter to UMB, Martin objected to UMB’s actions in the Diamondback bankruptcy, including what he described as proposed rescue financing to a company that owes Repeat Precision and its attorneys more than $40 million, thanks to a high-profile judgment Repeat won against Diamondback in a federal lawsuit earlier this year.Martin said the bank was jeopardizing Repeat Precision’s ability to recover the lawsuit judgment and he wanted to deliver that message in person to UMB. But he needed a member of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee to make the introduction. (Another member of the committee, Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, turned Martin down, according to Martin’s deposition).Williams volunteered for the job, Martin said.“Roger never threatened them or even mentioned anything other than ‘I'd like to facilitate a meeting between two business guys — one's my constituent and your bank is in my district,’” Martin said.There are conflicting accounts, though, about Martin’s request for congressional assistance.Williams acknowledged trying to connect Martin with the CEO, but he claimed he knew nothing about Martin’s beef with the bank or the Diamondback bankruptcy proceedings. The lawmaker said Martin never told him the details and he never asked.“All I wanted to do was set the meeting up,” Williams said in his deposition. “I didn’t know what it was all about.”That doesn’t jibe with Martin’s sworn testimony, though. The businessman, who admits he’s “hotheaded,” said in his deposition that he did inform Williams about his grievance — over lunch at his sprawling Burnet County ranch, records show.“I told him what was going on. I explained to him what the bank had done,” Martin said. He then asked Williams if he knew anyone who sat on the House banking oversight committee.“(Williams) said, ‘Yes, I do,’” Martin recalled in his deposition. “It was as simple as that.”Asked about the discrepancy between what he and Williams testified to under oath this summer, Martin said he no longer recalled what he said in his deposition.“I don’t know who’s got a worse memory, me or him,” Martin told the Chronicle.Williams called UMB Bank Texas-Oklahoma President Michael Garner on June 11 of this year, but the financial services company ultimately decided it would be improper to schedule a meeting at Williams’ request, correspondence shows.For his part, Garner said in his deposition that the request was “unusual,” but he did not see the conversation with Williams as threatening. Neither did the congressman.“I don’t think he saw any threat in my voice,” Williams said. “We even had some laughs.”But Hirsch, the bank’s lawyer, said repeatedly in his deposition that he felt Williams had left the impression that there could be trouble for UMB if the bank didn’t agree to the meeting with Williams’ donor.When pressed on why he came to that conclusion when his own client had not, he said he couldn’t divulge the answer without violating the bank’s right to attorney client privilege. The Diamondback bankruptcy judge took note that Hirsch’s characterization of the call differed from the way his client described it.Hirsch testified that about two weeks after Williams called Garner to ask for the meeting he alerted the debtor’s lawyer in the case that “the communication from the Congressman insinuated that there would be adverse consequences for the bank as a result of his role on the Finance Committee.”After the Diamondback bankruptcy lawyer cited Hirsch’s characterization of the phone call from Williams to Garner in a court filing, it sparked a battle over the propriety of the call that led to depositions from Williams, Martin, Hirsch and Garner.jay.root@chron.com

AUSTIN — U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, a Central Texas Republican and member of the House Financial Services Committee, used his powerful post in Congress to try to help a top donor in his dealings with a publicly traded bank, court records show.The controversy spilled out into a Texas bankruptcy case after Williams tried to broker a meeting between the wealthy donor — oil field investor Gary Martin of Marble Falls — and the CEO of UMB Financial Corp., which owns UMB Bank. The bank’s lawyer voiced objections to the “pressure” tactic and UMB ultimately declined to set up a meeting.The...

Congressman Roger Williams pressured a bank to help out a donor, records show

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