The Texas Report 6/9

What’s Happening:

• Austin Real Estate Investor at center of Paxton Impeachment Arrested by the FBI (More here)

• Governor Abbott signs border security legislation and announces the deployment of new resources

• Public Utility Commission Chair Resigns (More here)

• Elevated walkway collapse in Texas beach city, injuring dozens

Nate Paul, the Austin Real Estate Investor in the middle of the Paxton impeachment proceedings was arrested by the FBI and is set to appear in court this morning. Additionally, Abbott signed various priority border security bills and announced new resources to deploy in-between points of entry.

Austin Real Estate Investor at center of Paxton impeachment arrested by the FBI

Nate Paul, the Austin developer in the center of Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment, was arrested by the FBI in Travis County on Thursday.

Paul is an Austin real estate developer in the middle of the allegations of illegal conduct by Paxton, whom the Texas House impeached on May 27th.

It's not immediately clear whether his arrest is related to the allegations against Paxton, but Paul is at the center of abuse-of-office complaints against Paxton. Paul is accused of working with Paxton to hijack the Office of the Attorney General to help shield Paul from various federal investigations.

Paul was booked at the Travis County Jail for an "undetermined" felony charge and is being held by federal agents. Paul is set to make an initial appearance in federal court this morning. (More here)

Nate Paul rose to prominence in real estate, where his investment firm, World Class Captial Group, made hundreds of millions.

However, in 2019, FBI and U.S. Department of Treasury agents raided Paul's home and business offices. Additionally, Paul filed for at least 18 bankruptcies.

Before the FBI raid, Paul made a $25,000 political donation to Paxton in October 2018. Following the donation, multiple senior aides in Paxton's office accused the attorney general of using his office to help Paul's business interests, investigate Paul's adversaries, and help settle a lawsuit. In filings, the former aides described Paxton's motivations as a "bizarre, obsessive use of power."

Paul gave a job to a woman Paxton allegedly had an affair with. Per accusations from the Texas House General Investigating Committee, the Texas Attorney General intervened in litigation on the developer's behalf, intentionally subverting FBI and Texas Department of Public Safety investigations.

This adds another additional layer to what has become the biggest story in Texas politics. Additionally, Paxton has hired big-time attorneys to defend him in the upcoming Senate trial. Houston attorney Tony Buzbee is set to lead the defense team and, in a press conference held at the headquarters of the Republic Party of Texas, called the 20 articles of impeachment filed against Paxton "bologna," and he considers his client a victim of a "kangaroo court."

Buzbee is the latest big-name attorney to join the fray in Paxton's impeachment trial. Texas legal giants Dick DeGuerin and Rusty Hardin, described as "lions of the Texas trial bar," will serve as the lead prosecutors for the House impeachment managers. The state will pay their firms $500 an hour for their work, according to service agreements obtained by The Texas Tribune. In what is shaping up to be a battle of Houston, based-legal heavyweights,

Hardin released a statement refuting Buzbee's claims and noted that the House inquiry into Paxton only began after the Attorney General asked for the Legislature and, subsequently taxpayers to cover his $3.3 million whistleblower settlement. Hardin added that the House process was only intended to "decide whether these serious allegations merited being presented to the Senate in a full-blown trial."

More context:

Abbott Border Resources & Signed Legislation

Yesterday, Governor Greg Abbott signed a series of border security legislation passed during the 88th Regular Legislative Session into law at the Texas Capitol. Per Abbott's statement, "This package of six bills is intended to expand Texas' unprecedented efforts to hold the line and protect Texans from the record level of illegal immigration, weapons, and deadly drugs pouring into Texas from Mexico caused by President Biden's refusal to secure the border. "(Official Press Release)

During the press conference, Abbott announced the deployment of new marine floating barriers to deter illegal crossing in hotspots along the Rio Grande River. These resources are intended to prevent crossings between the ports of entry by making it more difficult to cross the Rio Grande.

The first 1,000 feet of the marine floating barrier will be deployed near Eagle Pass. Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw said the buoys are another tool to deter migrants from risking themselves by attempting to cross between entry points. McCraw said these are inexpensive and cost under $1 million per thousand feet.

Webbing will go down into the water and anchor to the bottom so people cannot swim underneath.

The bills signed include:

• S.B. 423 by Senator Angela Paxton and Representative Terry Wilson provides Texas military forces the authority to use unmanned aircraft like drones as part of an operation or mission.

• S.B. 602 by Senator Birdwell and Representative Sam Harless expands the authority of U.S. Border Patrol agents who have completed a DPS training program to include arrest, search, and seizure at established border checkpoints and points of entry for felony offenses under Texas law. Current law only allows agents to detain certain individuals at these locations.

• S.B. 1133 by Senator Cesar Blanco and Representative Tracy King, which establishes a grant program to compensate agricultural landowners up to $75,000 for property damage

• S.B. 1900 by Senator Brian Birdwell and Representative Ryan Guillen will designate Mexican drug cartels and criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations. This increases penalties for the destruction of illegal drugs and the operation of stash houses. Additionally, local entities can now seek public nuisance claims against Mexican drug cartels.

Additionally, this week Texas Senate passed H.B. 2 by Representative Guillen with amendments. This is a priority bill for the Texas Governor and the House; however, due to Senate amendments and the House adjourning Sine Die, the bill likely won't be able to pass this special session. The House and Senate are in the midst of a dispute on property taxes that will make any legislation passing out of the legislature unlikely during this special session. Governor Abbott has already committed to calling more special sessions to accomplish his priority issues.

New Interim Public Utility Chairman

As we reported last week, Peter Lake, Chair of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC), resigned. Lake had served since April 2021 and was responsible for overseeing the various reforms to the Texas electric grid in response to Winter Storm Uri.

The PUC regulates the state's electric, telecommunication, and water and sewer utilities, implements respective legislation, and offers customer assistance in resolving consumer complaints.

Wednesday, Abbott named Kathleen Jackson as the interim Chair of the PUC. Kathleen of Beaumont has served as a PUC commissioner since August 2022 and was previously a member of the Texas Water Development Board from 2014 to 2022. She is an engineer by trade, a member of the Texas Farm Bureau, a board member, and former president of the Lamar Insitute of Technology, and more.

The PUC is one of the most important regulators in the state and recently proposed a new redesign of the state's electric market. The "Performance Credit Mechanism" is the proposed redesign. PUC commissioners recommended it in January, saying it would improve grid reliability, but critics said it could pass more costs onto the consumer. With authority over the state's power grid, many eyes are on the PUC and state politicians to see how much the grid has truly improved since the 2021 winter storm.

In her statement regarding the appointment, Jackson said, "I'm honored and humbled by Governor Abbott's trust and confidence in me to lead the Public Utility Commission at this very important time for the agency and for Texas. I look forward to working closely with my fellow Commissioners to ensure Texas consumers have reliable and affordable power in our fast-growing state."

Elevated walkway collapses in Texas beach city, injuring dozens

Nearly two dozen teenagers at a summer camp were injured when an elevated walkway collapsed Thursday in Surfside Beach. Five were flown to the hospital by helicopter. None of the injuries are expected to be life-threatening, Brazoria County Officials said.

Surfside Beach Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Justin Mills said his department responded to an emergency call at 12:34 p.m. and set up landing areas for the medical helicopters.

Sharon Trower, public information officer for Brazoria County, said all of the victims were between 14 and 18 years old and from the Bayou City Fellowship summer camp. The five taken by helicopter were flown to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. Six were taken to local hospitals by ambulance, and about ten more were taken to hospitals by private vehicles, Trower said.

Below is an aerial video of the walkway:

More here: