News Roundup: Eyes on Texas

On Thursday, a Texas House committee recommended that state Attorney General Ken Paxton be impeached. Investigators for the committee had testified that they believed Paxton had broken several state laws and had engaged in a series of abuses of office.

• Among the allegations against Paxton, many of which were already known, are charges that Paxton misspent office funds, took bribes, obstructed justice, fired employees who spoke out against him, and used his office to benefit a political donor.

Paxton, who was reelected last year despite the numerous scandals, claimed the call for impeachment amounts to an effort “to overturn the results of a free and fair election.” The statement is particularly ironic given that Paxton played a major role in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election, having led the charge on a lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to throw out the results from four swing states.

• In an article highlighting Paxton’s statements, Mother Jones pointed to emails from December 2020 that American Oversight obtained from the Florida attorney general’s office.
• The emails show lawyers in the office of AG Ashley Moody — who the next day joined more than a dozen other attorneys general in supporting it — ridiculed Paxton’s lawsuit as “batshit insane” and “weird,” and speculated about Paxton’s motivations for filing it.
• One colleague apparently questioned whether Paxton’s support for former President Trump’s effort to stay in office was a “request for a pardon,” perhaps referring to an investigation into Paxton’s conduct.
• Another said that he wasn’t surprised that the state’s solicitor general had not initiated the lawsuit, adding that he must be “the only guy in the Texas AG’s front office who didn’t quit/wasn’t fired for alleging that Paxton committed crimes.”

American Oversight has sued Paxton’s office, and the office of Gov. Greg Abbott, for failing to release several sets of public records, including email communications with gun industry lobbyists as well as any emails sent by Paxton around Jan. 6, 2021, when Paxton spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House prior to the attack on the Capitol.

• In February, a Texas judge denied Paxton’s and Abbott’s request to dismiss the lawsuit. Paxton and Abbott had taken a position that would have eviscerated the public’s ability to enforce the state’s Public Information Act.

Meanwhile, Texas became the latest state to drop out of the multistate Electronic Registration Information Center, the program used by dozens of states to maintain voter rolls and prevent duplicate voter registrations.

• The backlash to ERIC among several conservative states is rooted in conspiracy theories and misinformation.
• Also this week, the Texas House voted to force Harris County — home to Houston — to remove its top election official, giving the secretary of state more authority over elections there.

On the Records

Michael Pack’s Abuses of Power at USAGM
A federal investigation found that Michael Pack, the Trump appointee who served as CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, “repeatedly abused the powers of his office, broke laws and regulations, and engaged in gross mismanagement” during his tenure in 2020. 

• The new report from the Office of Special Counsel, which corroborates a number of whistleblower complaints, details how Pack violated journalists’ independence and broke privacy laws while head of USAGM, which oversees several broadcast agencies including Voice of America. 
• We previously investigated Pack’s efforts to politicize USAGM and uncovered records that shed light on his hiring of Trump loyalists as well as his rejection of foreign journalists’ visa renewal requests. Read more about our investigation here.

Other Stories We’re Following

Election Denial and Threats to Democracy

• How conservative activists worked to kill an effort to protect Florida election workers from harassment (CNN)
• Cyber Ninjas CEO’s voting machine activities in Georgia draw investigation and scrutiny (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)
• Key witness in Lake trial sent more than 100 messages to Cyber Ninjas’ owner during ‘audit’ (Arizona Republic)
• Buckingham GOP nominates recently fired registrar for seat on elections board (Virginia Mercury)
• Citing ‘plenary powers,’ GOP leader claims a non-binding resolution bans Arizona election machines (Arizona Mirror)
• At news conference, Kari Lake makes false claims about Arizona election trial, vows to appeal ruling (Arizona Republic) 
• Groups settle Arizona lawsuit over voter intimidation at ballot boxes (Washington Post)
• Lawyer who co-led Virginia’s ‘election integrity unit’ resigns from AG’s office (Virginia Mercury)
• Judge schedules trial in lawsuit against Wisconsin’s fake electors for weeks before 2024 presidential election (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

In the States

• Cameron’s dream of secrecy would be Kentucky’s nightmare (Forward Kentucky) 
• Air DeSantis: The private jets and secret donors flying him around (New York Times)
• DeSantis’ $13.5m police program lures officers with violent records to Florida (Guardian)
• Texts tie DeSantis closely to Trump insider Lev Parnas in 2018 race (Reuters)
• The Covid vaccine deniers and QAnon believers coming to speak at the Arizona legislature (Arizona Mirror)
• Gianforte appoints right-wing conspiracy theorist to Humanities Montana Board (Daily Montanan)
• How a powerful Texas lawmaker and his family made half a million for a few phone calls (Texas Monthly)
• Texas Senate moves to create new immigration enforcement unit, allow state police to arrest for border crossings (Texas Tribune)
• North Carolina gerrymander ruling gives electoral gift to GOP in Congress (Associated Press)

National News

• New data reveals deeper problems with Bureau of Prisons’ Covid response (Stat News) 
• Prosecutors sought records on Trump’s foreign business deals since 2017 (New York Times)
• Trump lawyers seek meeting with Garland over special counsel inquiries (New York Times)
• Supreme Court limits EPA’s power to address water pollution (New York Times)
• Trump workers moved Mar-a-Lago boxes a day before Justice Dept. came for documents (Washington Post)
• State lawmakers want children to fill labor shortages, even in bars and on school nights (Associated Press)
• Mother of 8-year-old girl who died in Border Patrol custody says pleas for hospital care were denied (Associated Press)
• Still in Mexico: New concerns in the wake of asylum restrictions (Source NM)
• Harlan Crow refuses to cooperate with Dem senators’ Supreme Court probe (Politico)
• Chief justice says Supreme Court is working to address ethics questions (New York Times)

Attacks on Civil Rights

• Meet the influential new player on transgender health bills (Associated Press)
• Missouri AG calls on KC police to enforce trans care ban that chief says outside jurisdiction (Kansas City Star)
• Small, rural communities have become abortion access battlegrounds (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
• Judge blocks South Carolina abortion ban so state high court can review (Washington Post) 

Threats to Education

• The fight for the soul of a school board (New Yorker)
• Noem starts ‘whistleblower hotline’ for South Dakota universities (Keloland)
• Ron DeSantis’ context-free history book vanished online. We got a copy. (Washington Post)
• Objection to sexual, LGBTQ content propels spike in book challenges (Washington Post)
• New Florida rule requires school districts to track book challenges (Tampa Bay Times)
• Florida mom behind Amanda Gorman book ban has Proud Boy links (Daily Beast)
• Texas pushes church into state with bills on school chaplains, Ten Commandments (Washington Post)

Jan. 6 Investigations

• DC police lieutenant indicted on charge of tipping off Proud Boy Enrique Tarrio about arrest (NBC News)
• Stewart Rhodes, Oath Keepers leader, sentenced to 18 years in Jan. 6 case (New York Times)