An Austin businessman and public relations consultant who is partners with Tim Dunn in a business venture has also performed public relations work for Nate Paul, the embattled real estate investor who is at the center of allegations of misconduct involving Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Brad Cameron is the CEO and Founder of Situation Management Group, Inc., an Austin-based consulting firm. Cameron is listed as the sole director of Situation Management Group on documents on file with the Texas Secretary of State.
According to information obtained by The Texas Voice, Cameron was actively involved in a public relations campaign to cast a positive light on Nate Paul after Paul was the subject of media attention concerning law enforcement investigations and other legal controversies surrounding him and his business activities. As part of the public relations campaign, websites operated by an entity controlled by Cameron published content favorable to Paul or that cast Paul’s adversaries in a negative light.
On February 24, 2021, the website “Austin News” published an article highlighting philanthropic efforts by Paul, including providing meals after a freeze and donating personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The same website published an article on November 23, 2020, about a deposition in a lawsuit between the Mitte Foundation and Paul. The article portrayed the Mitte Foundation’s Treasurer as having little knowledge of the organization’s finances.
Paxton’s involvement in the litigation between the Mitte Foundation and Paul is the subject of Article I of the Articles of Impeachment brought against Paxton. That Article of Impeachment alleges, “While holding office as attorney general, Warren Kenneth Paxton violated the duties of his office by failing to act as public protector of charitable organizations as required by Chapter 123, Property Code. Specifically, Paxton caused employees of his office to intervene in a lawsuit brought by the Roy F. & JoAnn Cole Mitte Foundation against several corporate entities controlled by Nate Paul. Paxton harmed the Mitte Foundation in an effort to benefit Paul.”
On November 25, 2020, the website “Lone Star Standard” published an article about allegations of discrimination against David Maxwell, who had served as Director of Law Enforcement in the Office of Attorney General under Paxton. Maxwell was one of the whistleblowers fired by Paxton, who filed a lawsuit that Paxton agreed to settle for $3.3 million.
Both “Austin News” and “Lone Star Standard” are operated by Metric Media LLC. According to the Certificate of Formation for Metric Media LLC, Brad Cameron is the sole governing person of the entity. Metric Media LLC’s business charter was revoked by the Texas Secretary of State last year for failing to comply with the Texas Tax Code.
The client list published on Situation Management Group’s website lists “World Class Inc.” as one of the company’s clients. Nate Paul’s business is known as “World Class Holdings.” A review of the Situation Management Group website on the Internet Archive shows that “World Class Inc.” was not added to the client list on the Situation Management Group website until some point after the articles involving Paul were published on the Metric Media websites.
Situation Management Group also maintains an office in Beijing, and Cameron and his company advertise close ties to the Chinese government. Cameron’s biography on the Situation Management Group website describes him as “the only US representative of the Kangda Law Firm in China, which serves as the Chinese government’s official liaison to Western companies.” The biography of Victor Chen, the director of Situation Management Group’s China office, states that Chen “maintains extensive family and professional relationships with senior Chinese political and business leaders that allow NGRC clients to achieve large-scale business goals in China.” The website for Situation Management Group also appears to refer to the company as “National Grassroots & Communication,” or NGRC.
Cameron is listed as a Director of Pipeline Media, Inc., an Illinois-based business entity, alongside Midland businessman and prominent political donor Tim Dunn. Cameron and Dunn were named as Defendants in a 2021 lawsuit brought in Federal Court in Missouri that alleged Cameron and Dunn were part of a scheme to fraudulently transfer assets from a business entity at the Plaintiff’s alleged detriment. The lawsuit was dismissed in favor of Cameron and Dunn.
Dunn is the largest donor to the Defend Texas Liberty political action committee, which has recently been at the forefront of efforts to pressure members of the Texas Senate to dismiss the impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. In addition to his other business entities, Cameron is a Managing Member of Pipeline Advisors LLC. Defend Texas Liberty made a payment of $57,075 to Pipeline Advisors last year.
