Months ago, attorney Tony Buzbee tried to spark a federal investigation of Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. It apparently worked.
“Deshaun Watson reaches out to a woman in Atlanta, Georgia, while he’s in Houston,” Buzbee said at a press conference in early April. “Hear what I’m saying. He reaches out to a woman via direct message on Instagram who’s located in Atlanta, Georgia. He does this while he’s in Houston. He asks her for a massage. He tells her he’ll fly her in. He buys her a plane ticket. He arranges for her Uber from the airport. He Ubers her to the Houstonian.”
Asked whether there was significance regarding the notion that Watson brought women from other states to Texas, Buzbee said, “That’s a question you should ask somebody else.”
Since then, somebody else apparently has been asking questions.
“Let’s be clear, when somebody comes into your office on the 73rd floor of the Chase Tower, whether they’re the FDA or the FBI, it’s a big deal,” Buzbee told Amy Dash of leagueofjustice.com. “Well, it was the FBI. . . . They contacted me and I’ve met with them three times now and now they’ve met with several of the plaintiffs in the case.”
Buzbee, being deliberately coy (given his comments from April), said he asked the agents, “Why do you care about this?”
“He said to me, he’s like, ‘Look, what I’ve heard is that most of the reachouts occurred via the internet which creates jurisdiction for us,’” Buzbee said. “But then I understand there were these two women that were from out of state, which obviously creates more jurisdiction as well.”
Buzbee also said he spoke with an Assistant United State Attorney, and that she told him, “”Well I just want you to know we are not gonna waste your time.’”
This is Buzbee’s latest attempt to try his cases in the court of public opinion, and/or to get the kind of settlement offer he wants for his clients. But if a federal investigation actually exists regarding Watson, to go along with the criminal complaints that apparently are on track to be presented to a Harris County grand jury, it makes the 22 civil lawsuits the least of Watson’s current concerns, by far.