Who sent fake trans advocacy mailers to inflame Texas Republicans? A trail leads to an Illinois printer

The search for whoever sent deceptive transgender advocacy mailers across Texas has reached an llinois printing company. The discovery offers a new lead in a campaign that has triggered threats against LGBTQ+ advocates and a criminal investigation.

CBS News Texas reports that the U.S. Postal Service identified Three Z Printing as the permit holder for the mailers.

The brochures purported to provide resources for LGBTQ+ students, including information about emancipation from parents. They invoked the Transgender Education Network of Texas, known as TENT, which denies creating or authorizing them.

The controversy unfolds amid anti-transgender advertising targeting Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico. Them reported that anonymous conservative Reddit commenters complained the ads had introduced their children to transgender identity.

Related: Republican DA launches investigation to find culprit behind fake trans mailers in Texas

The organization has faced immediate consequences. Employees have faced threats, its online resource center went offline, and planned events, including a statewide voter engagement effort, were suspended, The Advocate previously reported.

TENT filed a petition in Travis County court on October 22 seeking permission to take depositions before filing a lawsuit. Attorney Mimi Marziani said the process could help identify whoever orchestrated the campaign.

“It is our belief, based on the content and timing of the messages and mailer, that it is a single, coordinated campaign and it is organized by a single entity or a single payer,” Marziani said.

Related: Texas trans rights group asks court to expose who’s sending fake flyers to outrage conservatives

The mailers identified their sender as the Texas Transgender Student Union. Wyoming records showed an LLC with that name registered on September 2.

The connection to the printing company has drawn online scrutiny. Texas Observer journalist Steven Monacelli reported that co-owner Matt Zerrusen’s social media featured photographs with President Donald Trump and conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Related: Ahead of elections in hostile Texas, someone is impersonating trans advocates — by text and now by mail

Social media creator Tizzy Ent, a filmmaker and activist named Michael McWhorter, amplified those connections in an Instagram video. He showed political photographs and a wedding image featuring a “Make America Great Again” cake, then questioned who supported the operation.

Republican District Attorney Sarah Stogner, who serves Loving, Reeves, and Ward counties, has separately opened an investigation into possible forgery.

“If this ends up being legal, it is everything that is wrong with our current political climate,” Stogner told The Texas Tribune.