A lawsuit has been filed by Dolcefino Media that seeks to block Harris County from potentially destroying public records regarding the scandal involving former Harris County Health Director Barbie Robinson.

157th State District Judge Tanya Garrison has scheduled a hearing for Friday, May 30 at 9 a.m. to consider our request for a temporary restraining order.

“We really filed this lawsuit on behalf of all the hard-working taxpayers of Harris County, the people who are now saddled with tens of millions of dollars in unnecessary contracts that were tainted by conflicts of interest and possible illegal self-dealing by Robinson,” said Wayne Dolcefino, President of the Houston based investigative media company.

“We will not allow communications and public records to be destroyed while we are investigating. We had to go to court to protect the evidence,” Dolcefino said.

Earlier this month, former Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg requested a federal investigation into the Robinson case, including the actions of her successor Sean Teare.

Teare dismissed the indictment against former health director Barbie Robinson on May 2, 2025. Teare now refuses to release the records obtained during the investigation to Dolcefino Media so the public can learn how Robinson was allowed to direct contracts to DEMA and IBM and avoid criminal prosecution.

“If the District Attorney attempts to destroy those records, we will be back in court in a New York minute,” Dolcefino said. “If Sean Teare cared about the voters who elected him, he would release all the case files so the public will know this case was truly dismissed because of lack of evidence, not politics.”

Ogg has claimed the dismissals were improper political payback because of Teare’s political backing by County Commissioner Rodney Ellis and County Judge Lina Hidalgo. We are investigating the role Ellis reportedly played in bringing Robinson to Harris County.

In her letter to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Ogg warned the FBI that Harris County had adopted a policy of destroying the records of former county employees thirty days after their departure.

If that’s true, the records of former County Administrator Diana Ramirez would be set to be destroyed as early as Friday, May 30. Ramirez fired Robinson after the questionable contracts and her multiple business relationships were uncovered.

Ogg claims Ramirez phone records may have already been wiped clean by the Harris County Universal Services department.

“We will not allow Harris County Universal Services to improperly destroy public records,” Dolcefino said. “We believe that conduct would violate Texas retention laws, all while Dolcefino Media has pending requests under state law for documents and email communications, including emails between Ramirez and Robinson which must be preserved by the courts.”

The lawsuit details additional public information requests, including requests for text and encrypted messages related to this purported destruction policy, copies of the waste, fraud and abuse report conducted by the Harris County Auditor, invoices and payments to DEMA and IBM, and invoices for all legal work involved in the investigations of Commissioners Rodney Ellis, Judge Lina Hidalgo, and members of her staff.

Armstrong & Getty