DOJ Investigates Texas Democratic Group After Operative Describes ‘Roundabout’ Way of Paying Voters

The Justice Department is investigating Texas Majority PAC after an undercover video showed a now-former employee describing what he called a “roundabout” method of paying people in connection with voter outreach ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Two sources familiar with the matter confirmed the federal investigation, though no charges or finding of wrongdoing have been announced.

The controversy began after an undercover recording showed Sky McAdams, then an organizing manager for Texas Majority PAC, discussing a program that paid participants $25 to attend a one-hour Zoom session. According to McAdams, the session focused on the importance of voting and criticism of Republican policies.

McAdams characterized the arrangement on camera as essentially an indirect way of paying people for their votes. He also acknowledged that directly paying someone to vote for a particular candidate would be illegal and described the arrangement as something Republicans would likely consider improper.

Texas Majority PAC strongly disputes McAdams’ description of the program. Spokesman Eddie Vale said participants were being compensated for legitimate grassroots organizing work, including learning how to encourage friends and relatives to vote and sending them reminders about participating in the election.

The organization said relational organizing has been used by political campaigns for years and maintained that paying people to perform campaign work is fundamentally different from paying someone to cast a ballot. The PAC called McAdams a rogue employee who inaccurately described its activities and said he was immediately fired.

The video prompted Republican Rep. Pat Fallon of Texas to request a federal investigation. Fallon wrote to Attorney General Todd Blanche asking the Justice Department to determine whether Texas Majority PAC or organizations working with it violated federal election law.

Federal law prohibits offering or accepting payments in exchange for voting, withholding a vote or voting for or against a candidate in an election involving federal candidates. The key question for investigators will be whether the payments were compensation for legitimate organizing activities or were actually conditioned on participants voting. The publicly available evidence has not established that recipients were required to cast a ballot in order to receive payment.

Campaign finance records cited in reporting show Texas Majority PAC paid political consulting firm Relentless $500,000 for a relational organizing program earlier this year. McAdams referred to the initiative as a “Paid Relational Program” and also identified Rally Texas while discussing the operation.

The investigation comes as the Justice Department increases its focus on alleged election crimes ahead of the November midterms. Earlier this week, federal officials announced charges and guilty pleas involving 12 people in separate cases involving allegations including illegal voting, fraudulent voter registration and the disposal of mail-in ballots.

For now, the allegations against Texas Majority PAC remain under investigation. Federal authorities have not publicly accused the organization or its leadership of committing a crime, and the PAC maintains that its payments were for lawful political organizing rather than votes.