The week in politics: How Gov. Bill Lee flew to Texas border and who paid for it?

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee traveled to Eagle Pass, Texas this month on a plane owned by Gothams LLC – a private contractor who netted millions in Texas state contracts to facilitate Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star border security initiative. Lee’s flight was arranged by a nonprofit affiliated with the Republican Governors Association, of which Lee was elected chair in December, according to the governor’s office. The governor traveled to the border to join a coalition of 13 Republican governors “for a briefing on the crisis at our southern border” – the day before he presented his State of the State address. According to flight records, a Pilatus PC-24 business jet owned by security contractor Gothams LLC flew from Austin,…