Assistant Texas AG ousted after posting pro-QAnon, anti-LGBT tweets

Texas Assistant Attorney General Nick Moutos said he was ousted from his position after posting tweets in support of QAnon and against LGBT people. 

News of the assistant attorney general’s ouster was first reported by The Texas Tribune, after a left-wing watchdog report surfaced that Moutos had made comments about QAnon and LGBT people on social media. 

Media Matters for America reported earlier on Thursday that Moutos is a “proponent” of the QAnon conspiracy theory as well as the “PizzaGate” theory that preceded QAnon. 

QAnon is a right-wing conspiracy theory started by an anonymous user “Q” on message boards, claiming there is a group of U.S. officials and celebrities who are controlling the government to undermine President Trump and run a child sex trafficking ring.

The watchdog reported earlier in the summer when Twitter announced its guidelines saying that it would “no longer serve content and accounts associated with QAnon in Trends and recommendations” and would “block URLs associated with QAnon from being shared on Twitter,” Moutos retweeted the policy, stating that “Q” must be getting close to outing a pedophile or child trafficker. 

#Q must be getting close to #OutingYou as a #Pedophile or #ChildTrafficker or perhaps involved with #PizzaGate #EpsteinFlightLogs #LolitaExpress #EpsteinIsland? #TruthBringsLight #EvilHidesInCensoredDarkness https://t.co/hdp64kK7HS

— Nick Moutos (@votenickmoutos) July 22, 2020

He has also tweeted that he believes the nation is in the middle of a second civil war, tweeting the hashtags #FightBackForAmerica” and “CivlWar2”, linking footage of what appears to be a Black Lives Matter protest.

#CivilWar2 has begun, but it’s not black v white, it’s #LeftVersusRight. #FightBackForAmerica NOW! #2A https://t.co/2jtp9r7olz

— Nick Moutos (@votenickmoutos) June 22, 2020 

Later on Thursday, the assistant attorney general confirmed that he had lost his job, claiming that it was due to his support of the First Amendment. 

“My support for #1A & against #Censorship & #Purging of Q followers & supporters was used as a reason to terminate my employment. #FreedomOfSpeechMatters,” Moutos tweeted Thursday. 

@mediamatters considers QAnon & any supporters #ViolentExtremists My support for #1A & against #Censorship & #Purging of Q followers & supporters was used as a reason to terminate my employment. #FreedomOfSpeechMatters pic.twitter.com/MKXB4ZdzWW

— Nick Moutos (@votenickmoutos) September 3, 2020

Moutos worked in his position under Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and had worked for the state since the spring of 2017, according to The Dallas Morning News.   

Moutos has also made anti-LGBT comments, specifically about the trans community, tweeting in April that, “Trans People are an abomination and have a mental disorder.”

The news comes as QAnon-supporting candidates have won GOP primaries in recent months. A Republican House candidate in Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene, has previously been a proponent of the theory, and has written blog posts for the now-defunct news site “American Truth Seekers.” She is favored to win election to the House in November.

Top Republican lawmakers such as Lindsey Graham (S.C.) have denounced the QAnon theory. However, President Trump has not done so. Greene was invited to attend Trump’s GOP nomination speech that took place on the White House South Lawn last week.