Mostly Monday Reads: Texas Governor Abbot says ‘Hold my Beer’

Good Day, Sky Dancers!

It’s a race to the bottom for Republican Governors in the efforts to decimate Constitionally granted civil rights and liberties. We’ve heard a lot about Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. However, his flop of a Presidential run has left him out of the state and speaking about his war on “woke” in rhetorical terms these days.  He appears to have quit his asylum seeker kidnapping flights for the time being.  Today, we must take a good hard look at what is happening in Texas.

You may recall that the top law officer in Texas, AG Ken Paxton, has been under indictment since 2015. The moving of the case against him to get some accountability has been negligible.  There is a sense of movement in two initiatives this year. The first is that the DOJ has taken the case from Texas.  This happened in February.  In May, Texas Lawmakers recommended impeaching the AG after an investigation. The investigation showed years-long misconduct.  This is from the Houston Public Media site associated with the University of Houston. “Many of the allegations discussed by investigators were already known, but Wednesday’s House panel was the first time investigators spoke on them in a public forum. Paxton is currently under indictment for alleged securities fraud and also faces a separate federal investigation over alleged abuse of office.”

For years, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton used his office to allegedly inappropriately help a campaign donor, a group of investigators working for a Texas House panel revealed Wednesday.

The panel’s report comes as part of a months-long investigation into Paxton’s settlement of a lawsuit brought by four whistleblowers who were fired in 2020 after making accusations about the Republican’s misdeeds.

“To be negligent is just one thing,” Donna Cameron, one of the House-hired investigators, told the House General Investigating Committee. “But malfeasance is when you are actively and intentionally doing things to the detriment of the office and to your oath and to the responsibility that you have to the state of Texas and the public.”

Cameron and three other investigators spent over three hours Wednesday morning detailing Paxton’s alleged illegal acts, most of them related to Austin real estate investor Nate Paul, who made a $25,000 contribution to Paxton’s campaign.

The investigation primarily centered on what the whistleblowers alleged and the $3.3 million settlement they were ultimately awarded. Payment on that settlement has not yet been funded by the Texas Legislature.

Investigators stated the evidence they uncovered shows multiple violations of the law and Paxton’s oath of office. They include: Gift to a public servant, abuse of official capacity, misuse of official information, and retaliation and official oppression. Some of the violations carry jail time.

Many of the allegations discussed by investigators were already known, but Wednesday’s House panel was the first time investigators spoke on them in a public forum. The level of detail was also unusual.

Paxton is currently under indictment for alleged securities fraud. He was indicted in 2015 and also faces a separate federal investigation over alleged abuse of office.

The committee hearing — which was previously scheduled — comes less than a day after Paxton accused House Speaker Dade Phelan of being intoxicated on the House floor and called for his resignation.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Paxton said Phelan was trying to “sabotage my work as Attorney General.”

“Every allegation is easily disproved, and I look forward to continuing my fight for conservative Texas values,” Paxton wrote.

According to investigators, Paxton asked his top deputies in 2019 for legal counsel on a disputed records request involving Paul, who wanted access to sealed information concerning a search warrant by federal agents against himself.

After Paxton’s staff searched Paul on the internet — finding Paul was under investigation from the FBI and had multiple bankruptcies — they advised Paxton not to release the documents.

Erin Epley, the lead attorney in the group of House investigators, said the decision “was the correct one under the law.”

Texas has become the epicenter of runaway state government. Rule of Law means nothing in Texas. Nowhere is this clearer with the current controversy surrounding Governor Abbott’s use of barrels wrapped in razor wire and denial of basic human aid to those coming to the Texas Border.  The DOJ is now on the case.  This is from Democracy Now!  “DOJ Threatens to Sue Texas Gov. Abbott for Installing Barrels Wrapped in Razor Wire in Rio Grande.”

The U.S. Justice Department is threatening to sue the state of Texas after Republican Governor Greg Abbott installed barrels wrapped in razor wire in the Rio Grande in an attempt to block migrants from crossing the river. This comes just after a whistleblower state trooper at the Texas Department of Public Safety recently protested the state’s inhumane policies in a letter to superiors. “What’s happening at the border in Texas right now is criminal,” says Democratic Texas Senator Roland Gutierrez. “There’s state crimes, there’s federal crimes, and there’s international crimes.”

AMY GOODMAN: The U.S. Department of Justice is threatening to sue Texas after Republican Governor Greg Abbott installed barrels wrapped in razor wire in the Rio Grande in an attempt to block migrants from crossing the river and entering the United States. Texas has also placed large coils of razor wire in the river. The Justice Department has given Abbott until 2 p.m. today to begin removing the floating barriers and related structures. Humanitarian workers and local news outlets report numerous migrants, including children, have suffered from lacerations after being cut by the razor wire oftentimes they couldn’t see — it was underwater.

A whistleblower state trooper at the Texas Department of Public Safety recently decried the state’s inhumane policies. In a letter to superiors, Nicholas Wingate wrote, quote, “The wire and barrels in the river needs to be taken out as this is nothing but a in humane trap in high water and low visibility,” he wrote.

Last week, the U.S. Justice Department sent a letter to Texas stating, quote, “The State of Texas’s actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out its official duties,” unquote.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott responded by writing on social media, “Texas has the sovereign authority to defend our border, under the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Constitution.” Abbott went on to say, “We will see you in court, Mr. President.”

We’re joined right now by Democratic Texas state Senator Roland Gutierrez. He recently announced he’ll run against Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.

Welcome back to Democracy Now!, state Senator, at least for now. It’s really important to have you with us on this critical day. Can you talk about these flesh-ripping razor wire barriers in the water and what you think needs to be done at this point?

SEN. ROLAND GUTIERREZ: Well, thank you, Amy, first off.

I mean, it’s obvious that what’s happening on the border is inhumane, as Trooper Wingate suggested, that these people are made in the eyes of God and that no one should have to go through this kind of torture. And it is torture, let’s be very clear. The wire that is in the water cannot be seen. It’s lacerated people. It’s caused problems. And worse yet, Trooper Wingate describes a situation where people have tried to get beyond the buoys and beyond the razor wire, sadly, in deeper parts of the river. He talks about a mom who lost her child underwater. Her and her other child succumbed at that point. They rescued the mom and the daughter, but they, sadly, died at the hospital.

And so, we have to understand that what’s happening at the border in Texas right now is criminal. There’s state crimes, there are federal crimes, and there’s international crimes. We have to understand that what’s happening right now is of such a degree that troopers are acting under the color of law, and that not only are taking people’s rights, but people are dying or being injured very seriously from this. Greg Abbott needs to stop this flippant attitude and understand that what he’s doing is harming people, and nothing he is doing has anything to do with any kind of immigration policy, because they have shown no metrics under Operation Lone Star. It has been stunt after stunt after stunt. And unfortunately, this one is leading into the deaths of migrants and migrant children.

AMY GOODMAN: There were a number of other incidents that were described in the email: the 4-year-old migrant girl and a pregnant woman having a miscarriage found with severe injuries as they crashed into the barbed wire barrels while crossing the river. The young girl had also passed out from heat exhaustion. Wingate also wrote that the migrant mother, as you described, and one of her children drowned. It looks like the other one is not found. A child being pushed back into the water by one of these Border Patrol?

SEN. ROLAND GUTIERREZ: Yes, Amy. I mean, all of those actions that you just described are absolute crimes that need to be prosecuted. I have talked to the local district attorney. As you know, I’ve asked the Justice Department to step in. They have suggested that they’re indeed doing that. They have asked the governor to remove the obstacles in the water.

The Department of Public Safety’s director, Steve McCraw, I spoke to him immediately as these reports came out, which was last Monday. And he suggested there’s going to be an audit. I don’t think he understands the severity of the situation. This is not about an audit. We need to have an investigation as to who gave what commands and when, how high from the Department of Public Safety did those commands come from, who knew about it. He claims, of course, that he didn’t know anything about it. But, you know, any kind of audit or investigation of any sort from this agency is — I just question, because this is the same agency that failed all of those kids in Uvalde, Texas, a year ago, over a year ago, and here yet, we have no accountability from this agency at all in the last year and a half on that incident.

I think that we have to take a very serious look at what’s considered immigration policy and what isn’t. The last two months, we have seen a success in the reimplementation of Title 8, cutting down crossings about down to half. The fact is, Greg Abbott doesn’t want to have that discussion. He simply wants to talk about the chaos that he’s created.

Yes. That’s the same agency that failed all of those kids in Uvalde, Texas.   Let’s list just a few things this Republican Governor has been up to recently.  This is from today’s Washington Examiner. “Greg Abbott sends fifth bus of migrants to Los Angeles.”

This latest bus included 44 migrants from Mexico, Colombia, China, Haiti, Honduras, Peru, and Venezuela — 14 of whom were children between the ages of two and 14 years old, according to a Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights’s spokesperson. Los Angeles received its last migrant bus a week ago.

According to Abbott’s office, over 160 migrants have been sent to Los Angeles since June 14. In total, over 27,000 migrants have been sent to Denver, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and New York City. Abbot claimed he’s sent thousands of migrants because Texas towns on the border are “overwhelmed and overrun” with migrants.

“Los Angeles is a major city that migrants seek to go to, particularly now that its city leaders approved its self-declared sanctuary city status,” Abbott said in a statement at the time he sent the first bus. “Our border communities are on the front lines of President Biden’s border crisis, and Texas will continue providing this much-needed relief until he steps up to do his job and secure the border.”

Mayor Karen Bass said her office cooperated with “city departments, the county, and a coalition of nonprofit organizations, in addition to our faith partners” to engage in its plan that it has previously utilized toward the influx of migrants.

“Actions ordered by Texas Gov. Abbott against migrants and refugees are outrageous, if not criminal,” CHIRLA Executive Director Angelica Salas said in a statement to ABC News. “We condemn the dehumanization of migrants and refugees anywhere, and we remind Governor Abbott that every life is precious and protected under the United Nation’s Human Rights Charter.”

There are, as there should be, a lot of questions about the legal basis of Abbott’s actions.  This is from Newsweek. “Greg Abbott’s Disaster Declaration Against Migrants Raises Questions.”  The analysis is provided by Khaleda Rahman.

Texas installed a floating barrier of large buoys on the Rio Grande river near the border town of Eagle Pass earlier this month as part of Abbott’s multibillion-dollar effort to secure the U.S. border with Mexico.

The barrier, as well as the state’s use of razor wire to deter migrants, has prompted a warning from Joe Biden‘s administration. Abbott has said the measures are within his authority because of what he says is a state of emergency caused by migrants crossing illegally into Texas.

Critics have said using disaster declarations to implement tougher border policies isn’t legally sound.

“There are so many ways that what Texas is doing right now is just flagrantly illegal,” David Donatti, an attorney for the Texas American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), told The Associated Press. Abbott’s office has been contacted for comment via email.

Jessie Fuentes, the owner of a Texas kayaking company, has sued Abbott and other state officials over the buoys, arguing that they have hurt his business and that border crossings aren’t covered by the Texas Disaster Act.

“The definition of disaster cannot be read so broadly to allow Governor Abbott to create his own border patrol agency to regulate the border and prevent immigrants from entering Texas by installing a buoy system in the Rio Grande,” the lawsuit states. An attorney for Fuentes has been contacted for comment via email.

The lawsuit against the state by women who have been severely injured by the Texas Anti-Abortion law saw testimony starting July 19th.  This is from the Texas Tribune.  “Tearfully testifying against Texas’ abortion ban, three women describe medical care delayed.  The women, believed to be the first to testify about an abortion ban’s impact on their pregnancy since 1973, are seeking to clarify when a medical emergency justifies an abortion.”

One woman could barely get words out through her tears. Another ran to the restroom as soon as she was done, wordless, wretched sobs wracking her tiny body. A third threw up on the witness stand.

These are believed to be the first women in the country since 1973 to testify in court about the impacts of a state abortion ban on their pregnancies. They almost certainly won’t be the last.

Speaking to a packed Travis County courtroom Wednesday, three women detailed devastating pregnancy losses and said medically necessary care was delayed or denied due to their doctors’ confusion over Texas’ abortion laws.

They’re challenging a clause in the state’s abortion ban that says a doctor can perform an abortion only if they believe the patient has “a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy” that puts the patient “at risk of death or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function.”

Doctors have reported delaying necessary pregnancy care for fear of violating the law, which allows doctors to be punished by up to 99 years in prison, a $100,000 fine and the loss of their medical license. The lawsuit, brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights, asks a judge to temporarily block the law from applying to medically necessary abortions and ultimately clarify when a medical emergency justifies an abortion.

Also, Texas is leading the charge on Book Bans.  This is from May 23rd.  According to statistics, Texas has banned more books than any other state.  This is from the AP. “Texas lawmakers set new standards to ban books from schools for sexual content.”  Texas is a huge consumer of books for its numerous students and frequently sets the standard for textbooks and books made for children.

The bill requires the state’s Library and Archives Commission to adopt standards that schools must follow when purchasing books, and a rating system that would be used to restrict or ban some material.

“What we’re talking about is sexually explicit material … that doesn’t belong in front of the eyes of kids,” said the bill sponsor, Sen. Angela Paxton, a Republican. “They shouldn’t be finding it in their school library.”

Abbott, a Republican, previously joined a former GOP lawmaker’s campaign to investigate the use of books in schools covering topics of race, gender identity and sexual orientation. That inquiry included a list of more than 800 books.

In April, leaders of a rural central Texas county considered closing their public library system rather than follow a federal judge’s order to return books to the shelves on themes ranging from teen sexuality and gender to bigotry and race.

Under the measure passed Tuesday night, book vendors would have to rate books based on depictions or references to sex. “Sexually relevant” material that describes or portrays sex but is part of the required school curriculum could be checked out with a parent’s permission.

A book would be rated “sexually explicit” if the material is deemed offensive and not part of the required curriculum. Those books would be removed from school bookshelves.

I will continue to cover the Red States and their White Christian Nationalists policies as this election year continues.  I think it’s essential to emphasize that states set the tone for what goes on in courts and the District. Governor Abbott and Texas Republicans are definitely leading the attack on our Constitution and Rule of Law. The Late, Great Texas Governor Ann Richards would be appalled. Watch as these things make their way to the Supreme Court and the Sicko Six.

What’s on your reading and blogging list today?

“The problem with Irony is not everybody gets it.”  Ray Wyllie Hubbard.