State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for Texas governor, is suing Gov. Greg Abbott over his office’s refusal to let her inspect unredacted communications with Elon Musk and his companies-records Abbott’s team previously argued contained “intimate and embarrassing” information.

The petition, filed in Travis County’s 126th District Court, accuses Abbott of blatantly violating state public records law by denying a sitting state representative access to official state records.

The records had already been compiled for a Texas Newsroom public records request in 2025, which Abbott’s office initially sought to withhold, citing “intimate and embarrassing” information. Attorney General Ken Paxton later ordered some records released and the office produced 1,374 pages, only about 200 of them unredacted.

Hinojosa requested the unredacted materials on Sept. 29, giving Abbott until Oct. 13 to allow her to inspect them, offering to sign a confidentiality agreement.

“On October 13, the Governor’s Office responded in writing, expressly acknowledging that it ‘has reviewed its files and located the documents responsive to your request,’ but still refused to release the unredacted versions of the redacted records,” the petition alleges. “Quite simply, GovernorAbbott has failed and refused to comply with the law by allowing Representative Hinojosa access to the Abbott-Musk communications.”

Hinojosa argues state law allows legislators to inspect confidential information requested for legislative purposes. She says the communications could inform oversight of state grants, tax incentives, broadband, public beach access, environmental impacts, AI and data centers.

In a statement to Chron on Monday afternoon, Abbott’s Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris said the claims made in the lawsuit were unfounded.

“The lawsuit is baseless and nothing more than an act of desperation. Even worse, State Representative Gina Hinojosa is abusing her official capacity as an outgoing lawmaker to generate headlines for political purposes,” Mahaleris wrote. “Texans see this for what it is: a political stunt.”

Abbott’s campaign did not immediately respond to Chron’s request for comment on Monday afternoon.

Hinojosa is asking the court to rule that Abbott violated her rights under Texas public records law and to bar him from blocking her inspection of communications with Musk.

“Hinojosa is seeking injunctive and declaratory relief to halt Abbott’s unlawful denial of her statutory right under the Texas Public Information Act to inspect documented communications between the governor and Elon Musk, which Abbott has called too ‘intimate and embarrassing’ to be made public,” Hinojosa’s campaign wrote in a news release on Monday.