US politics
fromEsquire
2 days agoTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton Continues to Sink to New Lows
Minnesota Rep. Elliott Engen was arrested for driving while impaired, highlighting issues of hypocrisy among lawmakers regarding DUI offenses.
Crenshaw accused Cruz of defunding ICE and CBP while enjoying a vacation during a Homeland Security shutdown, contrasting his actions with the struggles of less wealthy Texans.
Cornyn is in the fight of his political life in the May 23 runoff election against Paxton, and it's guaranteed to be viciously brutal. The incumbent is widely viewed as a stronger candidate in the general election due to Paxton's series of scandals, lawsuits, and controversies, but the attorney general has gotten support from the MAGA wing of the GOP for his combative, far-right stances.
Over the past several years, Texas has moved from griping about "woke campuses" to fundamentally restructuring the governance, curriculum, and tenure protections of its public universities. The cumulative effect is not reform. It's consolidation of power. And the target is the traditional independence of higher education. TL:DR - send your kids to Texas public universities, and it's like having the Texas legislature teach your kids.
Hill is one of nine people currently standing trial for events stemming from a small protest that took place on July 4, 2025, at the Prairieland Detention Center just outside of Dallas, in which a police officer was non-fatally shot. According to participants, the protest was meant to be a noisy but peaceful show of solidarity with ICE detainees held in the prison.
The Cornyn/NRSC JFC is airing a new ad accusing Ken Paxton of "sleeping around with a married mother of seven" and calling him a "wife-cheater and fraud." Has there been another instance of a committee going so hard against a candidate who it may have to support in a few months?
Republican elected officials in Mississippi, New Hampshire, Tennessee and beyond have fought proposed facilities in their states. New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) recently celebrated DHS striking its plans for an ICE facility that triggered public outcry in suburban Merrimack. She thanked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem for 'hearing the concerns' of residents.
Since the fall of abortion rights, no abortion provider has been convicted of violating a state ban. Proceedings underway in Texas might soon change that. Last March, Ken Paxton, Texas' Republican attorney general, filed civil and criminal charges against a Houston midwife, accusing her of performing illegal abortions and practicing medicine without a license. Texas law permits penalties of up to life in prison for performing abortions. The midwife, Maria Margarita Rojas, has responded that the state just can't prove their case.
Federal agents on Saturday fatally shot a man protesting immigration enforcement activities in Minneapolis. The man was later revealed to be an employee of the Veterans Affairs Department, working as an intensive care unit nurse at the medical center in the city where he was killed. Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was taken to the ground by several federal agents before one of them shot him.
As far as the agitators, that said, I want to reiterate and make very clearI want to make it clear. ICE and CBP officers are performing their duties in a challenging environment under tremendous circumstances, but they're trying to do with professionalism. If they don't, they'll be dealt with. Like any other federal agency, we have standards of conduct. There are sworn law enforcement officers working tirelessly to enforce our countries border security, immigration laws, protecting the interests of our country.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is ordering state agencies and public universities in Texas to halt new petitions for H-1B visas. In a letter to Texas state agency heads on Tuesday, Abbott wrote that there had been "recent reports of abuse" in the program, which is designed to bring high-skilled foreign workers to the United States. "Texas state agencies and institutions of higher education collectively employ hundreds of thousands of Texans and have a significant role in shaping the State's labor market," Abbott wrote.
The government's ability to deal with drones that pose a threat on American soil has been questioned this week after the use of a laser designed to shoot down drones near the border in Texas led to the abrupt closure of the airspace over El Paso, sources familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The details of exactly what happened before the Federal Aviation Administration shut down the busy airport in the Mexican border city on Wednesday aren't entirely clear,
someone at DOJ is attempting to undercut the other things Parente will release today, which reportedly show that Charles Exum lied to the FBI in order to get them to charge Martinez with assault, in part by obscuring that (as would happen with Renee Good months later) the bullets entered the vehicle from the front and the side, showing that he was never in danger, as claimed.
Amid rising tensions in Minnesota over federal agents shooting and killing protesters, US President Donald Trump said senior White House official Tom Homan will visit the northeastern state. "I am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight. He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me," the president wrote in an online post.