The Texas Report 8/4

The Texas Report 8/4

What’s Happening:

• Body Found near floating barrier installed in the Rio Grande (More here)

• Texas A&M reaches $1 million settlement with journalism professor (More here)

• Suspended Attorney General Paxton appears in court over securities fraud

Body Found near floating barrier installed in the Rio Grande

Mexican authorities recovered two bodies in the Rio Grande, including one spotted along the floating barrier Governor Greg Abbott recently installed.

Mexico's Foreign Relations Department initially found one body along the barrier, then hours later said a second body about 3 miles upriver, away from the area of the buoys. The cause of death was unknown in both cases.

Mexican officials condemned the barrier's installment in two separate notes reporting that bodies were found in the Rio Grande. But Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said preliminary information indicates that the first person found dead had "drowned upstream from the marine barrier and floated into the buoys."

McCraw added that "there is personnel posted at the marine barrier at all times in case any migrants try to cross." The spokesperson for DPS said that the department had received a report of a possible drowning and notified U.S. Customs and Border Protection, along with the Mexican consulate.

An Abbott spokesperson pushed back on the reports from the Mexican government, claiming they were "flat-out wrong."

Installed in July, the barrier stretches roughly the length of three soccer fields. Its construction has raised concerns that it may pose a danger, making it more difficult for migrants to climb over or swim under it.

The Department of Justice is suing Texas over the barrier, asking a court to force its removal.

Migrant drownings occur regularly on the Rio Grande. Over the Fourth of July weekend, four people, including an infant, drowned in the river near Eagle Pass before the buoys were installed.

The Texas legislature has appropriated over $5 billion for border security across the 2024-25 biennium.

During a recent Eagle Pass city council meeting, Mayor Rolando Salinas said he wishes both Texas and the Federal government offered more solutions and worked directly with Eagle Pass. "I wish the President would be a little more vocal on this issue. Help us out. I feel that we're abandoned here to kind of 'Hey, you're doing this on your own,' Salinas said, adding that supporters of Abbott's policies need to know that "The city of Eagle Pass didn't authorize, for example, the buoys. We didn't say, 'Oh, yes, please bring them in.' These are actions that are taken also without consulting the city or consulting myself."

Texas A&M reaches $1 million settlement with journalism professor

Texas A&M has reached a $1 million settlement with journalism professor Kathleen McElroy. McElroy was initially welcomed with great fanfare to revive A&M's journalism department. A Texas A&M alum and former New York Times editor, she's overseen the journalism school at the University of Texas.

Soon after her hiring, internal pushback began over her past statements made in opinion pieces and public interviews that caused significant concern for conservative Aggie alums.

A report was released by the Office of General Counsel at Texas A&M reviewing the context behind the failed hiring. After news of McElroy's hire, conservative media organizations like the Texas Scorecard described McElroy as a "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion proponent." They added that she was part of the "Council for Racial and Ethnic Equity and Diversity at UT."

Per the report, the Scorecard article generated numerous calls and emails to the President's Office at TAMU, including from the conservative Rudder Association and other former students, raising questions about why a DEI proponent would be hired as director of the new journalism program.

The announcement of her hiring also generated a significant positive response, including calls, emails, and social media activity in support of McElroy's hiring.

The concerns raised about McElroy's hiring eventually led to various potential offers that didn't include tenured positions, and ultimately, A&M administrators advised McElroy it may be in her best interest to stay at UT.

Multiple resignations followed, including university president Katherine Banks and interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Jose Luis Bermudez.

In the A&M-produced report, Interim President Mark Welsh acknowledged that "significant mistakes were made in this hiring process, primarily due to a failure to follow established policies and procedures that govern faculty hiring."

Suspended Attorney General Paxton appears in court over securities fraud

Yesterday, Paxton appeared in state court in Harris County over his long-delayed securities fraud case.

The state and Paxton both indicated they'd talk about a plea deal if the Senate removes him in his upcoming impeachment trial set to begin September 5th.

The defense confirmed that Fed investigators are speaking to witnesses in a separate case overlapping w/impeach accusations. The next hearing date is October 6th, and no significant decisions were made. Lawyers on both sides agreed to wait for the outcome of the impeachment trial.

"It's too early to tell. But logically, if he's impeached in the Senate, he would have greater motivation to resolve this case because his political career, one would think, would be dead," said Dan Cogdell, who is defending Paxton in both the impeachment trial and fraud case.

The securities case goes back to 2015 when a Collin County grand jury indicted Paxton on multiple felony charges for allegedly defrauding investors in a McKinney technology company and failing to register with state securities regulators.

In addition, the FBI is investigating Paxton for allegedly abusing his office to help a campaign donor, which are the corruption accusations that also form the core of the 20 articles of impeachment against him.