Former Harris County Public Health director facing felony charge, accused of bid-rigging

All right, Leslie. Thank you. Well, the former executive director of Harris County Public Health is facing a felony charge in an alleged bid rigging scheme. District attorney Kim Ogg announced it here today. Fox 26's Jonathan Mejia was there joining us live outside of the Harris County Courthouse. Break this all down for us, Jonathan. What happened here? Yeah, Barbie Robinson is being charged with a felony. She is being accused of sharing information with technology company IBM. Prosecutors say that's a disservice to Harris County. Barbie Robinson is charged today as the former Harris County Public Health director with funneling approximately $30 million to a hand-picked beneficiary, IBM. District attorney Kim Ogg says the misuse of official information by Barbie Robinson is a third degree felony charge and is punishable by two to ten years in prison and up to $10,000 fine. Misuse of official information as a crime doesn't require the defendant to actually benefit, but I will tell you that it's certainly part of the ongoing investigation to see if she did. The district attorney's office is unsure at this time if Robinson received any financial gain from providing IBM information. What resulted was a database with information on anyone who received health services in Harris County and operated based on the idea that IBM would bring services to the county. The services to be provided, many are already provided by Harris County. CPS services, probation services, health department, hospital services. So we're unclear what services are actually being provided, but we know that just the software program alone was almost 30 million dollars. In a post on X, county judge Lina Hidalgo said the charges brought against Robinson was an attack by Ogg. Ogg responded by saying Hidalgo's opinions are irrelevant to the criminal process. We're not in high school and our cases aren't based on opinions, they are based on evidence. The evidence reflects actions taken by government officials which violate the law. District attorney Kim Ogg says this will continue as it is an ongoing investigation. She assures that more will come out of this. Reporting live outside the Harris County Courthouse, Jonathan Mejia, Fox 26 News.