Chairman of Medina County GOP steps down amid questions about past financial missteps [Video]

MEDINA COUNTY, Texas – The chairman of the Medina County Republican Party has stepped down, amid questions from KSAT Investigates about his past.

Brian Kanke has faced criminal charges, including theft and fraud in Texas and Louisiana, has filed for bankruptcy five times and is accused of failing to repay loans he received for a Houston-area fishing business, public records obtained by KSAT Investigates show.

Kanke, who did not respond to multiple requests from KSAT for an on-camera interview, informed Medina County GOP leadership late last month that he had vacated the position.

The email was sent hours after KSAT attempted to track down Kanke at his listed business addresses in San Antonio, Hondo and rural Medina County.

Troubles in Williamson County

Kanke, 56, was charged with theft multiple times in Williamson County, north of Austin, in the 1990s and 2000, Williamson County court and Texas Department of Public Safety records show.

A 1993 theft-of-check case was …