Texas AG says he’d defend sodomy law if Supreme Court revisits 2003 ruling
When asked whether the Texas legislature would pass a sodomy law, and if he would defend it and bring it to the Supreme Court, Attorney General Ken Paxton suggested he would be comfortable supporting a law outlawing intimate same-sex relationships.
washingtonpost.comReports: Twitter to provide Musk with raw daily tweet data
Twitter plans to offer Elon Musk access to its “firehose” of raw data on hundreds of millions of daily tweets in an effort to push forward the Tesla billionaire’s agreed-to $44 billion acquisition of the social media platform, according to multiple news reports.
The Trailer: Establishment wins, surging turnout and burning Bushes: Takeaways from this week’s primaries
In this edition: Lessons from all of May's primaries, redistricting madness drags into Memorial Day weekend, and the director of Justice Democrats lays out their new strategy to replace centrists.
washingtonpost.comTexas bar seeks to punish AG Ken Paxton for election lawsuit
The State Bar of Texas sued Wednesday to punish state Attorney General Ken Paxton for his failed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election based on bogus claims of fraud, raising a new legal danger for the Republican the day after he secured his party's nomination for a third term. The state bar asked a Dallas-area court to impose unspecified discipline on the state's top lawyer, alleging that Paxton's petitioning of the U.S. Supreme Court to block President Joe Biden’s victory was “dishonest.” The formal accusation of professional misconduct makes Paxton one of the highest-profile attorneys to face a potential threat to their law license for a role in former President Donald Trump’s effort to delegitimize his defeat.
news.yahoo.comTakeaways: Trump’s big defeat; election denial backfiring
Former President Donald Trump’s crusade for vengeance suffered two devastating blows when Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger won their primaries despite rejecting Trump’s entreaties to reverse his 2020 election loss.
Seven years later, still no trial for Texas AG Ken Paxton
Not many people charged with felony crimes go seven years without ever standing trial. One of them is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. All the while, other clouds have gathered over Paxton: the FBI is investigating him over separate accusations of corruption, and the State Bar of Texas is weighing possible reprimands over his attempts to baselessly overturn the 2020 election.
news.yahoo.comCornyn: Texas AG Ken Paxton's legal woes an 'embarrassment'
Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas on Thursday blasted one of his party's top leaders back home, calling the mounting pile of accusations and legal woes Attorney General Ken Paxton faces an “embarrassment" just days before a primary runoff election. Paxton, who is within reach of winning the GOP nomination to seek a third term Tuesday, has been under state felony indictment since 2015 on securities fraud charges and is separately being investigated by the FBI after his top deputies accused him of corruption. “This is the chief law enforcement officer of the state of Texas and it’s a source of embarrassment to me that that has been unresolved,” Cornyn told reporters.
news.yahoo.comTexas fires back at tech industry in new Supreme Court filing
The filing escalates a battle between Paxton and industry groups representing some of the country’s most powerful social media firms, which have turned to the Supreme Court after a surprise ruling at the 5th Circuit court last week allowed the law to take effect.
washingtonpost.comTexas Supreme Court questions Gov. Abbott's authority to order investigations into parents of transgender children — but allows abuse probes to continue
Gov. Greg Abbott had ordered state authorities to investigate parents who authorize gender-affirming care for transgender children for abuse.
news.yahoo.comTexas AG says bar is suing him over 2020 election challenge
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Friday that the state bar association plans to sue him over his failed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election based on bogus claims of fraud, raising yet another legal danger as the embattled Republican is locked in a primary runoff. Since last summer, the State Bar of Texas has been investigating complaints over Paxton's petitioning of the U.S. Supreme Court to block President Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump. The group has not publicly filed a suit against Paxton, but it asked an Austin-area court Friday to impose unspecified discipline on a member of his staff for alleged professional misconduct in the election suit.
news.yahoo.comTexas loses appeal over investigation of trans teen's family
A Texas court on Wednesday tossed out the state's appeal of an order preventing child welfare officials from investigating the parents of a transgender teenager over gender-confirming care the youth received. The Texas 3rd Court of Appeals dismissed Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton's appeal of the temporary order a judge issued last week halting the investigation by the Department of Family and Protective Services into the parents of the 16-year-old girl. The lawsuit marked the first report of parents being investigated following Abbott’s directive and an earlier nonbinding legal opinion by Paxton labeling certain gender-confirming treatments as “child abuse.”
news.yahoo.comHospital stops therapies after gender-confirming care order
The nation’s largest pediatric hospital has announced it has stopped gender-affirming therapies after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the state’s child welfare agency to investigate reports of gender-confirming care for kids as abuse. Texas Children’s Hospital, located in Houston, announced that its decision to stop such hormone-related prescription therapies was made after it reviewed Abbott’s order, which came when Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton last month released a nonbinding legal opinion that labeled certain gender-confirming treatments as “child abuse.” “The mission of Texas Children’s Hospital is to create a healthier future for all children, including transgender children, within the bounds of the law ... This step was taken to safeguard our health care professionals and impacted families from potential criminal legal ramifications,” the hospital wrote in a statement released Friday.
news.yahoo.comThe Trailer: As Russia invades Ukraine, candidates stick to stick to safe spaces
War in Europe meets the United States' immovable partisanship, Texas holds a whole bunch of elections, and swing state Republicans try to hand power for this one (and the next one) to their state legislative majorities.
washingtonpost.comTexas GOP's strict voting bill on the verge of final vote
The Texas Legislature is on the verge of signing off on some of the most restrictive voting measures in the U.S. A vote was expected Sunday in the GOP-controlled Texas House that would send Republican Gov. Greg Abbott a raft of election changes that would eliminate drive-thru voting and empower partisan poll watchers.
The Latest: Navajo Nation extends "safer at home" order
That increased the state’s totals to 839,334 confirmed cases and 16,912 confirmed deaths. Ad___RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil accounts for a quarter of the daily coronavirus global deaths, more than any other nation. AdThere have been 12.4 million confirmed cases and more than 307,000 confirmed deaths in Brazil, second only to the United States. AdPakistan has reported 649,824 total confirmed cases and 14,158 confirmed deaths. The nation of 10.7 million had 1.5 million confirmed cases with 25,639 deaths.
The Latest: Texas state judge upholds Austin's mask mandate
Doug Ducey said the site switch will maintain the state’s vaccination program’s presence in southeastern Maricopa County while protecting staff, volunteers and people getting vaccinated. Greece is currently grappling with a surge in coronavirus infections which has seen many hospitals run by the state health system reach capacity. 23, a total of 42,028 COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed on the island nation of around 900,000 people, of which 248 died due to COVID-19. Kate Brown said those groups will now be eligible to sign up for the COVID-19 vaccine on April 5. ___PHOENIX — Arizona on Friday reported 571 new coronavirus cases and 24 deaths as the number of virus-related hospitalizations remained fairly stable.
States sue Biden in bid to revive Keystone XL pipeline
Committee Ranking Member Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WVa., speaks during a hearing to examine the nomination of former Gov. – Attorneys general from 21 states on Wednesday sued to to overturn President Joe Biden’s cancellation of the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. Led by Ken Paxton of Texas and Austin Knudsen of Montana, the states said Biden had overstepped his authority when he revoked the permit for the Keystone pipeline on his first day in office. Construction on the 1,200-mile (1,930-kilometer) pipeline began last year when former President Donald Trump revived the long-delayed project after it had stalled under the Obama administration. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana.
Amid FBI probe, Texas official hired from big donor family
FILE - This Jan. 6, 2021, file photo, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump. The attorney general's office and Gleason have not responded to repeated requests for comment. Case records show proceeds from the sale went to Tom Gleason as well as his mother and father, Alfred Gleason. Reached by phone, Tom Gleason said he does not speak to reporters and hung up. On Jan. 25, he was in Austin preparing to give a presentation, which the attorney general’s office declined to release.
Texas power company seeks bankruptcy protection after storm
Brazos Electric Power Cooperative Inc., the oldest and biggest generation and transmission power cooperative in Texas has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following last months winter storm that left millions without power. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)The largest and oldest power cooperative in Texas is filing for bankruptcy protection, citing last month’s winter storm that left millions without power, and it is unlikely to be the last utility to seek shelter in the courts. Brazos Electric Power Cooperative serves distributors that supply electricity to more than 1.5 million Texans in 68 counties from the Panhandle to Houston. Brazos said Monday that it was a “financially robust, stable company” before the Arctic freeze that hit Texas between Feb. 13 and Feb. 19. Ed Hirs, who teaches energy economics at the University of Houston, is sure there will be more power company bankruptcies.