Paxton Wants Most Charges Against Him Dismissed

[#TexasPolitics365]

Lawyers for impeached Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday sought to have most of the charges against him dismissed, arguing that they rely on alleged acts of corruption before he was reelected to a third term in 2022.

In motions filed with the Senate, where Paxton’s impeachment trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 5, his attorneys said they believe state law bars the removal of an official for conduct that occurred before their most recent election. Paxton was first elected attorney general in 2014 and the impeachment charges include alleged conduct since then.

(Full story HERE.)
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Abbott Send More State Troopers to Austin After Partnership Suspended

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday said he was sending 30 additional state troopers to Austin after city officials, with the blessing of Mayor Kirk Watson, suspended its partnership over a controversial traffic stop. 

The Republican governor said he had deployed 30 additional Texas Department of Public Safety troopers "to protect and serve the city of Austin." 

The latest deployment, Abbott noted, brings the number of state troopers in Austin to 130.

(Full story HERE.)
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Texas House Impeaches AG Paxton

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The Texas House Saturday voted to impeach embattled state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).

The vote was 121-23, with two present but not voting, and three who were absent from the chamber. He will be suspended from office pending a trial in the Senate.

The surprising vote came at the end of a week in which Paxton called on House Speaker Dade Phelan to resign after video was aired online and in news reports appearing to show Phelan drunk at the podium during a House session. 

Last week it was also revealed that Paxton has been under investigation by the House for misappropriation of funds in a settlement with several former employees of his office. 

On Thursday, a state House investigative committee recommended his impeachment, finding that he had “used, misused, or failed to use his official powers in a manner calculated to subvert the lawful operation of the government.”

The 20 counts in the resolution contained a grab bag of alleged inappropriate favors done for donors, interference in federal investigations and retaliation against whistleblowers.

Allies of Paxton launched a vigorous defense of him online, text and in email campaign calling on supporters to flood the statehouse with emails and peaceful demonstrations both for Paxton and against Phelan, who Conservatives called a republican and name only (RINO) who allegedly killed bills desired by voters.

One text, sent by The Texas Family Project, read: "While we were fighting to defend kids, #DrunkDade Phelan teamed up with Democrats to stop us. Now he's working with the Anti-Family Left to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton. Tell Phelan and the Democrats that it is time to get to work, not play political games."

The group called on supporters to sign an online petition, which concluded: "This impeachment process is premature and a distraction from the important work that our elected officials should be focusing on - serving the people of Texas."

(Full story HERE
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AG Paxton Calls on House Speaker Phelan To Resign Over "Intoxication" Incident; House Investigating Paxton Payout

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Tuesday called for Speaker of the state House Dade Phelan to resign, alleging he presided over the lawmakers “in a state of apparent debilitating intoxication," 

“After much consideration, it is with profound disappointment that I call on Speaker Dade Phelan to resign at the end of this legislative session,” Paxton said in a statement,  Paxton posted on Twitter Tuesday afternoon.

 “Texans were dismayed to witness his performance presiding over the Texas House in a state of apparent debilitating intoxication,"  he said. 

Meanwhile,  a Texas House committee revealed Tuesday it is investigating the office of Attorney General Ken Paxton over his push for $3.3 million in taxpayer dollars to settle a whistleblower lawsuit from former deputies who had accused Paxton of misconduct.

It's a dramatic case of tit for tat, just days before this year's legislative session ends.

(Full story HERE and HERE.)
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Legislators Ban Sex Changes For Minors

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Texas lawmakers this week gave final approval for a bill that would ban gender procedures and therapies for minors, which now heads to the governor's desk. 

The state Senate voted 19-12 to accept the House version of Senate Bill 14 with a majority of Republican support. The bill now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk, The Texas Tribune reported. 

Many media outlets decried the bill in headlines as "anti trans legislation" and a ban on "gender affirming care" for minors, language that obscures the true intention of the powerful hormones being prescribed to children, which is to "transition" them to another gender by halting their natural development. 

No legislation in Texas or in other states that have banned the procedure for children have banned them for adults.

(Full story HERE.)
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Lt.Gov Sees Agenda Slowed, Watered Down In House

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With less than two weeks left in the legislative session, the Texas House has started moving on some of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's more conservative priorities in the Senate, such as proposals targeting drag shows for children and college professor tenure.

But the lower chamber is putting its own tweaks on the bills, watering them down in some cases and leaving it unclear whether the powerful Patrick will go along — if the bills even make it out of the House. The situation is adding even more uncertainty to the home stretch of a regular session that has already been fraught with threats of overtime lawmaking.

(Full story HERE.)
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Google To Pay $8 Million Settlement To Texas Over Deceptive Ads

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Google has agreed to an $8 million settlement with Texas over deceptive ads promoting its Pixel 4 smartphone, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced.

At issue was Google's trustworthiness as an advertiser after the tech giant "hired radio DJs to record and broadcast detailed testimonials about their personal experiences with the Pixel 4," but then "refused to provide the DJs with a phone for them to use," Paxton said.

The tech giant had previously settled claims from the Federal Trade Commission and six other states for approximately $9 million, and Paxton seemed proud that his "settlement recovers $8 million for the State of Texas alone."

(Full story HERE
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AG Paxton Goes After Dell Children's For Pre-Teen Sex Changes

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Attorney General Ken Paxton has once again waded into the fight to restrict access to sex changes for minors, announcing Friday that he was opening an investigation into “potentially illegal” practices at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas.

The investigation comes in the wake of a video report that alleges to show a social worker at Dell Children’s saying the Austin-based hospital provides certain trans sex change treatment for patients “as young as eight, nine.”

(Full story HERE.) Warning: bias.)
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House Expels Rep. Slaton

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The Texas House unanimously voted to expel Bryan Slaton on Tuesday, one day after the Royse City Republican submitted his resignation after an internal investigation determined that he had sex with a 19-year-old aide after getting her drunk.

After a solemn, sometimes angry and tearful recounting of Slaton’s "graphic" and "offensive" behavior, the House voted 147-0 for expulsion, making Slaton the first member of the Texas Legislature to be removed from office since 1927.

(Full story HERE.)
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Senate Bill Would Allow Re-do Of Elections With Ballot Paper Shortages

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Texas Senate has passed a proposal allowing the state to re-run elections in Harris County, home to the state’s most populous city, Houston.

The legislation was the result of Harris County officials running out of ballot paper at several voting sites in the deeply problematic 2022 election. 

The measure would give the Texas secretary of state the authority to hold a new election in the county if it runs out of paper at 2% or more of its polling sites for more than an hour.

The bill’s Republican co-author, State Sen. Mayes Middleton, said, “There is no excuse why we can’t competently run our elections and have adequate ballot paper.” 

(Full story HERE.)
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Investigation Into Unnamed. Lawmakers Moves Forward

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The Texas House Committee on General Investigating unanimously agreed on Monday that a lawmaker may have been involved in inappropriate workplace conduct and set a due process hearing into the matter for Thursday.

The committee did not identify the target of the investigation, which member Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, referred to only as “Matter B.”

(Full story HERE.)
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