The Texas Report 7/5

The Texas Report 7/5

What’s Happening:

• Ken Paxton will not testify at impeachment trial, attorney says (More here)

• City of Houston files lawsuit against Texas Preemption Law (More here)

• 2019 El Paso shooter to be sentenced today (More here)

• Texas DPS recovers four bodies, including infant from Rio Grande in Eagle Pass in 48 hours (More here)

The Texas House and Senate meet today at 2:00 p.m. as we continue to await a compromise regarding property taxes. Last week the Senate added language to their proposal providing one-time pay increases to Texas teachers, and then the chamber unanimously approved the bill. The House is expected to vote out it's legislation today.

Ken Paxton will not testify at impeachment trial, attorney says

In a late Monday night statement, suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton's lead defense lawyer Tony Buzbee, announced his client will not be testifying in his upcoming impeachment trial in the Texas Senate.

The Senate could still try to force Paxton to testify, but the statement emphasizes that he will fight such efforts.

Regarding the Texas House, Buzbee said, "We will not bow to their evil, illegal, and unprecedented weaponization of state power in the Senate chamber."

Late last month, the Texas Senate approved rules for the trial giving authority to the presiding officer ( Lt. Gov Dan Patrick) to "compel the attendance of witnesses." The presiding officer can also issue subpoenas at the request of one party or its lawyers.

The Texas House voted to impeach Paxton, based on 20 articles of impeachment focused on allegations from former deputies that Paxton had misused his office to help a wealthy campaign donor and friend.

In criticism of the impeachment, Buzbee and other Paxton defenders have argued that impeachment is invalid because state law says a state officer cannot be removed from office over something they did before their "election to office." Paxton argues that applies to anything he did before he was reelected last year; the House has argued that the so-called "forgiveness doctrine" does not apply to impeachment.

Late last week, articles also emerged that Paxton and several other Attorney Generals participated in a trip to China, which Paxton didn't disclose against the recommendations of senior staff concerned about potential Chinese Communist Party influence, according to Fox News Digital.

The Attorney General Alliance (AGA) and Conference of Western Attorney Generals (CWAG) facilitated the trip. It was a 10-day excursion in 2019 that included stops in Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Macau.

Both Republicans, like Paxton, and Democrats, including then-Hawaii Attorney General Clare Connors, met with both Chinese government officials and private sector representatives.

"The international delegations are centered around matters to include Consumer Protection, organized crime, and cybercrime, all of which are priorities in other countries and the United States' bilateral security relations," AGA Deputy Director and General Counsel Tania Maestas told Fox News Digital in a statement. "The United States has extensive cultural ties and a mutually beneficial economic relationship and continues to build them through these delegations."

AGA has been criticized for allegedly selling access to special interests, Axios reported last year. Chris Toth, former executive director of the National Association of Attorneys General, said in his retirement letter last year, "I have become increasingly alarmed at the growing influence of lobbyist and corporate money in the attorney general arena, particularly involving entities that are being investigated and/or sued by A.G.s."

Obviously, Paxton wasn't the only politician or Attorney General to visit China, but it happened during a similar time as many of the other whistleblower allegations and provided more context around the increasingly complex story regarding the Attorney General.

Houston sues the state of Texas regarding new “Super Preemption bill”

Houston officials sued the state on Monday to try and prevent a new law aimed at preempting authority by local governments to create ordinances that are seen as going further than what's allowed under broad areas of state law.

H.B. 2127 by Representative Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) was called the "Death Star Bill" during the 88th Texas Legislative session.

This bill received backlash from many local officials across the state, who saw it as a potential state overreach that would prevent local regulation of outdoor music festivals, noise regulations, water breaks, tow-truck companies, and more.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a news conference Monday, said the full extent of what local laws would become illegal remains unclear. In his press release, he added, "Under HB 2127, preemption is given a new meaning and one that effectively repeals Texas constitutional home rule."

Bill author Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) responded to news of the suit on social media with:

Besides the death star bill, Burrows and supporters often called H.B. 2127 the regulatory consistency bill. They added preemptions of municipal or county ordinances to the Agriculture, Business & Commerce, Finance, Insurance, Labor, Local Government, Natural Resources, Occupations, and Property Code.

• It specifically references that local governments can't maintain ordinances or rules regulating conduct for hiring practices, breaks, scheduling, the treatment of animals, and more.

• This will all be a significant legal battle that will likely end up in the hands of the Texas Supreme Court due to the high probability of appeals by both parties.

The suit was filed Monday in Travis County court and would have become law on September 1, 2023.

2019 El Paso shooter to be sentenced today

The white Texas gunman who killed 23 people at a Walmart in 2019 returns to court today for sentencing for a mass shooting that targeted Hispanic shoppers in El Paso.

Patrick Crusius, 24, is set to receive multiple life sentences after pleading guilty to federal hate crime and weapons charges in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. The federal government did not seek the death penalty, but Texas prosecutors have not taken lethal injection off the table under a separate case in state court.

Investigators say the shooting was preceded by Crusius posting a racist screed online.

• The people killed ranged from a 15-year-old high school athlete to several elderly grandparents.

• They included immigrants, a retired city bus driver, teachers, tradesmen, including a former iron worker, and several Mexican nationals who had crossed the U.S. border on routine shopping trips. Witnesses recounted moments of terror, anguish and heroism.

• An infant boy named Paul Anchondo narrowly survived with a broken hand as his parents were gunned down. Mother Jordan Anchondo is credited by relatives with shielding her baby.

• David Johnson, 63, was killed after pushing his wife and 9-year-old granddaughter under a counter. The woman and child survived.

• The funeral for one victim, 63-year-old Margie Reckard, drew thousands of sympathizers after her husband announced he had few relatives left and invited the world to attend.

The sentencing comes as the Justice Department under President Biden moves to more aggressively identify hate crimes and deliver meaningful results in these high-profile cases.

Crusius faces capital murder charges in state court and could still receive the death penalty if convicted.

It is unclear when that case will proceed. In November, El Paso County's former district attorney resigned over mounting criticism about her performance on the job, which included accusations that problems in her office were slowing down Crusius' case.

Also, victims' relatives have sued Walmart. Such lawsuits are common following mass shootings in the U.S. but typically face high hurdles to succeed.

Texas DPS recovers four bodies, including infant from Rio Grande in Eagle Pass in 48 hours

Over the holiday weekend, four people, including an infant girl, drowned in the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

DPS spokesperson Lt. Chris Olivarez wrote on Twitter that the department's Tactical Marine Unit and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission deployed two airboats in response to a possible infant drowning.

The Tactical Marine Unit recovered the bodies of the infant and female adult but found them unresponsive.

State officials recovered four people floating in the river, including the two deceased. The two survivors were turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol. Neither DPS nor Customs and Border Protection would comment on Tuesday.

On Sunday and Monday, two more bodies — a male and a female — were recovered from the river. Olivarez said their identities are unknown since neither had identification documents.

DPS troopers also found two young children, ages 8 and 11, who told troopers that a woman had left them at the edge of the river in Mexico and instructed them to cross.

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