O'Rourke Returned Donation From Disgraced FTX Crypto Financier

[#TexasPolitics365]

Democratic candidate for governor Beto O’Rourke returned a $1 million donation from disgraced cryptocurrency financier Sam Bankman-Fried four days before Election Day, his campaign told The Texas Tribune this week.

Bankman-Fried founded FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that was valued at $32 billion before collapsing abruptly in a matter of days earlier this month, setting off an industrywide panic. Many customers of the popular crypto platform may lose all or part of the money they invested. O’Rourke’s team said they returned the million-dollar donation a week before FTX filed for bankruptcy and Bankman-Fried stepped down as its chief executive, but that the decision was made prior to Nov. 4 and took time to execute.

Bankman-Fried has been revealed as a prominent and generous donor to Democrats around the country.

(Full story HERE.)
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Harris County Again Amends Election Law, Keeps Polls Open Two Hours

[#TexasPolitics365]

Harris county, whose unilateral election law changes in 2020 prompted the state legislature to pass laws creating uniform election law across the state, is again making changes to its local election laws. It is unclear whether they received State sanction to do this.

Yesterday, one of the final days of early voting, Harris County election officials kept the polls open until 10 p.m., two hours after they were scheduled to close. The change was announced on Twitter and other venues by local media. The Harris county election office announced that nearly 75,000 people had voted on the second to last day of early voting.

The Harris County election office is still under investigation for election irregularities in 2020. It's supervisor of elections resigned in 2021 from the scandal-plagued office. The county is the third largest in the entire nation, and is a heavily Democratic enclave.

(Full story HERE
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AG Paxton Wants Court To Throw Out Whistleblower Complaints

[#TexasPolitics365]

A lawyer for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, arguing Wednesday before a state appeals court, insisted that Paxton cannot be sued by four former high-ranking officials who were fired after accusing him of accepting bribes and related crimes.

The Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals will decide whether a whistleblower lawsuit by the former officials, who say they were improperly fired last year in retaliation for reporting the allegations, can move forward.

The Republican Attorney General faces a hotly contested primary, as well as announced Democratic candidates competing in the Democratic primary.

(Full story here.)
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Statehouse Staffer Lied About Lobbyist Rape, Say Investigators

[#TexasPolitics365]

The news landed at the Texas Capitol last month like a bombshell: State police were investigating claims that a male lobbyist from one of the most influential firms in Austin had used a date rape drug on two female legislative staffers.

Now, a DPS investigation has concluded that a legislative staffer fabricated the story of the date rape drug to cover up embarrassing personal behavior. 

(Full story here
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