Despite Congress being on recess until next Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) has had a busy week. He spent Wednesday in Denver hanging out with his former statehouse colleagues, before heading to Houston, Texas for a fundraiser today with an organization whose leader has promoted numerous antisemitic conspiracy theories on social media.
The fundraising luncheon was hosted by BIZPAC, a right-wing political organization that advocates for Texas business owners. Evans was the only out-of-state candidate in attendance, joining Texas Attorney General candidate Mayes Middleton, congressional candidate Jon Bonck, and Harris County Judge candidate Warren Howell, who is also a BIZPAC board member.
Joseph L. Trahan founded BIZPAC in 2019 and serves as its Executive Chairman. He is also the Executive Chairman of Energy & Petroleum Services Corporation.
On top of that, he is extremely active on social media, and has a long history of boosting conspiracy theories on Facebook and X. Trahan’s interest in this is far from casual: on multiple occasions he has shared a documentary titled “JFK to 9/11: Everything is a Rich Man’s Trick,” which claims that “Secret Societies” were involved in a wide range of historical tragedies. The video is three and a half hours long; a post by Trahan in 2024 implies that he has watched the video in its entirety.
“More facts in this documentary by British filmmaker Richard Conolly than any President has ever released,” Trahan posted. “November 22, 1963 they killed JFK… this is what the deep states looks like, how it operates and once you see this film, the deep state becomes very clear.”
In the years since, Trahan has made multiple posts implying that Israel is controlling U.S. institutions, and has promoted right-wing pundit Candace Owens’s theories that Israel was involved in the murder of Turning Point USA leader Charlie Kirk last year. He also claims that Erika Kirk, Kirk’s widow and the new leader of Turning Point USA, has turned the organization into an “ISRAEL FIRST Propaganda machine.”
As recently as last Saturday, Trahan wrote on X that “AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] and its allies have been dismantling western culture.” This was in response to another user’s post, which claimed that Jewish organizations had “destroyed both Europe and the United States” through promoting “mass immigration.”
The same day, Trahan made a Facebook post promoting Evans’s appearance at BIZPAC’s upcoming luncheon. Asked by a commenter whether Evans “takes money from Israel,” Trahan replied: “We’re gonna find out.”
For his part, Evans has been vocally supportive of Israel throughout his political career. In a 2024 interview with Jewish Insider, he said, “Standing by Israel is absolutely critical for me, not just from a geopolitical perspective and from a foreign policy perspective, but as a Christian. It really goes to the core of my faith.”
In June 2025, after a man attacked a group of demonstrators with incendiary weapons in downtown Boulder, Evans posted to X, “We must condemn antisemitism at every opportunity – not just after attacks like this.”
A spokesperson for Evans did not respond to an email asking if the congressman has any concerns about fundraising with Trahan’s organization. This story will be updated with any response received.
Also today, End Citizens United named Evans for its list of “Most Corrupt Politicians,” citing his “record of taking money from corporations and special interests.”
Antisemitism isn’t the only type of hate promoted by leaders of BIZPAC. Dr. Steven Hotze, who sits on the group’s executive advisory board, is also the CEO of Conservative Republicans of Texas, which is designated an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Hotze spent $350,000 on the 2015 campaign to repeal Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance; he once brandished a sword on stage and vowed to drive “homofascists” out of the city. Conservative Republicans of Texas continues to claim that Democrats “approve homosexual ‘mirage’” [sic].
