“Stealing from a veteran's widow--very classy”: Journalist slams Bo French over “stealing” from ‘American Sniper’ Chris Kyle’s widow

Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner Bo French recently shared an image of a group of Asian American students celebrating the Texas Longhorns' football win against the Ohio State Buckeyes at the University of Texas and misattributed it as the graduation ceremony. However, he hinted that the group represented a “problem,” a characterization widely condemned as racist.

“I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined,” Bo’s caption on X read.

Journalist John Podhoretz criticized the Texan politician’s latest comments and recalled that in 2016, NAVY SEAL sniper Chris Kyle’s widow Taya Kyle issued a cease-and-desist letter against Bo French, asking him to stop using her late husband or their family’s name in his campaign, as agreed upon in their previous business lawsuit settlement. French was Kyle's former business partner.

“This Bo French character in the anti-Indian tweet basically tried to steal the assets of the widow of Chris Kyle, the ‘American Sniper’ subject and had to settle with her. Stealing from a veteran's widow--very classy,” Podhoretz, who is the editor of Commentary Magazine, tweeted.

The lawsuit was later dropped and settled without admission of liability.

Senator John Cornyn also condemned Bo French for his “intolerance and racism.” He tweeted:

“This is the Republican nominee for statewide office. Are other Republican elected officials going to condemn the intolerance and racism, or look the other way while it becomes normalized? This is how great political parties self-destruct. Sad.”

French was quick to respond:

“John Cornyn says we should accept decline. Generations of Texans have invested billions of dollars into UT. Today it is filled with foreign nationals and Leftists who boo Ted Cruz... The voters I talk to want to return our institutions to serving the interests of citizens.”

Texas Senator Ted Cruz was booed at the game as he appeared on ESPN show College GameDay in Austin, TX, on Saturday. Additionally, the phrase "foreign nationals" is widely criticized as the Asian American students depicted could be U.S. citizens.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott also rejected Bo French’s sentiments. In a statement with Politico, Abbott, who is a Republican, shared:

“That is not my message. A selective picture of Longhorn fans celebrating our biggest home victory-ever actually shows a way that Texans unite. We all support our college football teams. The way we win the state is the same way we win football games. We unite under the brand of Texas.”

However, the Lone Star State Governor added that it didn’t mean that Texas wouldn’t “lead in having the toughest immigration laws” in the country and that his administration would “freeze” the H1B visas at Texas universities, as they deem necessary.

Exploring Taya Kyle’s past feud with Bo French

Chris Kyle, whose memoir inspired Clint Eastwood’s film American Sniper, and his friend Chad Littlefield were fatally shot at a gun range in Erath County, Texas, in February 2013. Kyle was 38.

Ten months later, Chris’ widow Taya sued her husband’s business partners, Steven Young and Bo French, claiming that they “hijacked” his companies Craft International LLC and Craft International Risk Management LLC and were freezing her out of the assets.

Craft was co-founded as a tactical-training, professional consulting, and risk management company for the military and law enforcement.

Taya Kyle, who is a resident of Midlothian, TX, filed the lawsuit in Dallas County Court and claimed in the filing that Chris Kyle acted as the face and leader of the companies and created and owned their distinctive skull logo. She also accused the defendants of using her husband’s death for their personal benefit. The 28-page document, obtained by courthousenew.com, read:

“It is believed that defendants Young and French diverted Craft’s assets, contracts, copyrights and trademarks to another entity for their own personal benefit, and to the exclusion of Kyle and his widow.”

It continued:

“Upon information and belief, while Kyle was building and developing Craft, defendants were manipulating Craft’s stock, mishandling funds, diverting assets and mismanaging and usurping Craft’s contracts… Young and French weaseled their way into Craft, claiming they were the financial geniuses necessary to make Craft a financial success.”

Taya Kyle claimed that Bo French and Steven Young tried to buy her out of her husband’s majority shares in the companies. The complaint stated:

“Although Young and French had repeatedly represented to Taya Kyle that Craft’s books and records were available for inspection, when she retained legal counsel and requested that she and her representatives be allowed to inspect and copy Craft’s books and records, Craft refused, advising her that as an assignee, she had no rights to review Craft’s books and records.”

Chris Kyle’s widow accused the defendants of transferring the companies’ contracts and assets to a third-party without her consent or knowledge. Back then, Bo French defended himself by claiming to the Dallas Morning News:

“None of the members… wanted their spouses to become members in case of death or divorce. Taya Kyle did not become a member of Craft upon Chris’s death, but she does have certain rights. One of those is the right to have her interest bought by Craft at fair market value. Taya Kyle indicated her desire to divest herself of all interest in Craft. Craft agrees it is time for the parties to separate in a business sense, and it moved forward in the manner provided by the agreement.”

Taya Kyle sought punitive damages for breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, fraud, conversion, theft, conspiracy, and more. She also demanded disgorgement, declaratory relief, and appointment of a receiver.

Bo French and his fellow defendants denied the accusations and the lawsuit was later dropped. In November 2014, both parties reached a settlement outside the courtroom, which included a provision that French and others would not use Chris Kyle’s “name, likeness, logo, or image.”

In February 2016, Taya Kyle sent a cease-and-desist letter to her husband’s former business partner, claiming he violated the terms of their agreement. She also warned of legal action unless French confirmed in writing that he wouldn’t use Chris Kyle’s name in his campaign. Bo was running in the Republican primary in Texas House District 99 against Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth).

“Bo is abusing the name of my late husband, a beloved Son of Texas, and a hero to the nation, in an attempt to manipulate voters,” Taya stated in the court papers.

Back then, Bo French denied using Kyle’s name in his campaign materials and told The Texas Tribune in a statement:

“I’m very proud to have the endorsement of Chris’s brother, Jeff Kyle, and I wish only blessings upon Taya and the Kyle family. I have addressed her concerns by reviewing all the literature that we are currently using and Chris’s name is not on any of those materials or mentioned on our campaign website.”

Meanwhile, the campaign mailer confirmed that it featured a picture of Jeff Kyle who was identified in the caption as:

“Sgt. Jeff Kyle, USMC and brother of American Sniper Chris Kyle.”

Not only that, but the mailer contained a quote from Jeff Kyle referencing his late brother.

“When my brother, Chris, got out of the Navy SEALs, few people did as much to help him as Bo French. Bo was one of a handful who worked tirelessly to help the family, and he raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Taya and the kids after Chris’s death,” Jeff Kyle stated.

After Geren’s campaign condemned Bo French for using Chris Kyle’s name, French replied in a statement to NBC5 posted on his social media:

“I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve done. Chris was a great friend of mine and a business partner, and after his tragic death, I worked tirelessly along with some of my coworkers to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Taya and the family. Those suits were dropped and a resolution was met, and I’m very pleased with that.”

In March 2016, Reuters reported that Taya Kyle became the campaign treasurer of a Republican candidate who was running against Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson. Before that, Chris Kyle’s widow endorsed Rick Perry in his failed bid for presidential nomination and Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

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Now, amid Bo French’s controversial tweet about the UT students, he was also called out by Rep. Lacey Hull, Rep. Jared Patterson, and Senate hopeful James Talarico.

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