Lawyer Martin Phipps alleges San Antonio councilman deleted message at heart of ethics case

The public pissing match between District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte and a former colleague turned adversary — controversial San Antonio attorney Martin Phipps — took another odd turn on Tuesday.

After a half-hour executive session, the citizen-appointed Ethics Review Board unanimously voted to move forward with a hearing on an allegation from Phipps that the councilman abused his power asking authorities to investigate the attorney.

The hearing, which will take place at 7 p.m. on Aug. 14, will allow the board to question Whyte on his actions on April 26, the night before Fiesta's King William Fair.

According to the police report viewed by the Current , Whyte allegedly texted a member of the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, advising that deputies should "look carefully" into Phipps. Whyte sent the message after his wife, Lorien, who contacted him and warned that one of Phipps' children might have been in trouble, according to the document.

However, the message mentioned in the police report appears to have vanished from Whyte's phone and wasn't included in the texts the councilman tuned over to the Ethics Review Board, Phipps told reporters following Tuesday's hearing.

"Marc Whyte and his response — sworn under oath — that he had not texted the sheriff's deputies is impossible," Phipps told reporters.

Phipps added that he and his team believe Whyte "altered" the text messages handed over to the board. The attorney said he now plans to request metadata from Whyte's phone.

Whyte wasn't present at Tuesday's meeting, and his office wasn't available for immediate comment at press time Wednesday.

Councilman Whyte and Phipps previously worked together at Phipps' former law firm, Phipps Cavazos PLLC. However, the entanglements between the two men and their families don't end there.

Whyte's wife, is the attorney representing Phipps' ex-wife, Jessica Joyner, in her child custody battle with Phipps.

Phipps maintains that Whyte abused his power by sending the alleged text to Bexar County officials asking them to investigate what the attorney alleges to be a bogus claim about his children's welfare.

Phipps has seen his share of controversy in recent years.

In 2021, Phipps was arrested by San Antonio police on claims that he harassed his second wife, Brenda I. Vega. The two were married for only 34 days, and Vega, who was working as Phipps' legal assistant, alleges that he "induced [her] to enter the marriage by duress."

That arrest came shortly after San Antonio attorney T.J. Mayes and others from Phipps' law firm resigned, citing a hostile workplace, as previously reported by the Current .

Phipps, who represented Bexar County in high-profile opioid litigation, also faced other turbulence. His private jet was repossessed in 2020 after Phipps reportedly defaulted on a $1.7 million loan. Most recently, Phipps has been locked in a legal battle with Fort Worth-based CDC Enterprises, which is seeking to evict his rooftop bar Paramour.

Meanwhile, Whyte is still battling a December DWI charge .

Stay tuned.

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