The memo warned that “foreign adversarial interests” might be seeking to “abuse” and “exploit” Texas, and “undermine our communities from the inside,” Texas Monthly reported Monday. The memo had no letterhead, signature, or date but was disseminated to different agency heads by members of Abbott’s office and his advisers. Sure enough, the memo’s language has since reappeared in press releases announcing official inquiries from a range of state agencies, including the Texas Funeral Service Commission, Texas Workforce Commission, and the Texas Rangers, among others.
Travis Iles, then-commissioner of the Texas State Securities Board, had a meeting in March 2025 with Daniel Mittnacht, a political adviser; Trevor Ezell, Abbott’s general counsel; and Caleb Gunnels, an assistant general counsel. The group went over the memo, and after the meeting, Iles assembled a team of six career regulators and attorneys to investigate whether EPIC City’s investors were being told enough about the project, Texas Monthly reported.
Iles’s investigation found that EPIC City’s fundraising didn’t seem to have anything to do with securities at all. Investors in EPIC City had purchased units that would guarantee them the opportunity to purchase property lots at a discounted price—not securities that would passively derive profits.