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Follow our live updates for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment proceedings. The Republican-dominated Texas House has scheduled a vote on the impeachment of the state’s Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, for Saturday at 1 p.m. In February, Mr. Paxton agreed to pay $3.3 million in a settlement with the four former senior aides. Many of the investigators’ findings about Mr. Paxton were already known publicly, from the allegations made in the aides’ lawsuit. In 2015, his first year in that office, Mr. Paxton was charged with felonies related to securities fraud and booked in a county jail outside Dallas.

☆ Vivek Ramaswamy's firm courts GOP officials as he pushes businesses to stay out of politics
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

Scott Olson | Getty ImagesRepublican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy built his White House bid around urging companies to stay out of politics. The messages show Ramaswamy's firm actively engaged with GOP state leaders who have defended the fossil fuel industry and criticized environmentally conscious investment standards. Ramaswamy on Thursday defended the firm's engagement with GOP officials, saying bigger firms BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street have conducted similar practices with state officials across the country. Strive has become one of the more vocal opponents of ESG investing and has gained enough notoriety to challenge the likes of fossil fuel giant ExxonMobil . Ron DeSantis, have often attacked ESG investing standards and corporations that support social causes — an increasingly common refrain within the GOP.

☆ Texas lawmaker, who previously said drag queen story hours would sexualize children, should be expelled for sexual misconduct with a teenage intern, committee says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Texas legislative committee recommended a lawmaker be expelled for inappropriate conduct, per the Associated Press. The committee report said GOP Rep. Bryan Slaton, 45, had sex with a 19-year-old intern. Slaton and his attorney did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Sunday, but his attorneys previously called the claims "outrageous" and "false," the AP reported. "Children don't need to be focused on sex and sexualization," he said in an interview last year, the AP previously reported. The intern was "really dizzy" and had "split vision," the committee report found.

☆ Texas governor seeks pardon of man convicted of murder in Black Lives Matter shooting
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Rich Mckay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 8 (Reuters) - Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Saturday he is seeking the pardon of an Uber driver convicted of murder just a day earlier in the July 2020 shooting death of a man at a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Austin, the state capital. Perry was driving in the city the night of the shooting and turned his Uber vehicle onto a street where a Black Lives Matter crowd was marching, according to media. Protesters told police that they feared they were being assaulted with the vehicle, according to media accounts. Perry was convicted of murder after the jury deliberated for 17 hours in the eight-day trial, according to media accounts. Perry faces life in prison and is due to be sentenced by State District Court Judge Clifford Brown on Tuesday, according to online court records for the 147th District Court in Travis County, Texas.

☆ Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he will pardon an Army sergeant who was convicted for shooting a Black Lives Matter protester ‘as soon as it hits my desk’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Kenneth Niemeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A jury unanimously convicted Perry on murder charges on Friday. Greg Abbott on Saturday said he will work "swiftly" to pardon an Army sergeant who was recently convicted of shooting and killing a Black Lives Matter protester. Daniel Perry for the shooting death of Garrett Foster, 28, at a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas. Perry then shot Foster five times with a revolver before driving away, the American-Statesman reported. "I look forward to approving the board's pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk," Abbott said in Saturday's tweet.

☆ Texas congressman who broke with GOP is censured
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

That independent streak includes opposing a sweeping House GOP immigration proposal over the U.S.-Mexico border, which includes a large portion of his South Texas district. Gonzales was defiant before the vote and did not attend the meeting of Texas GOP leaders and activists in Austin. "The Republican Party of Texas would be wise to follow his lead and do some actual work." Last year, former Texas GOP Chairman Allen West stepped down from the job to mount a faint primary challenge against Republican Gov. The state party in 2018 also censured a former moderate Texas House speaker who opposed bathroom restrictions for transgender people.

☆ 2 Republican leaders pushing for anti-drag laws have dressed in what could be considered drag based on the bill texts' definition
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Both Republican leaders have previously dressed in drag — based on their bills' definition of the word. The Tennessee bill does not include the term "drag" but suggests "male or female impersonators" as one type of entertainment that is "harmful to minors." Schatzline similarly responded on Twitter that his performance was not a "sexually explicit drag show." Yah, that's not a sexually explicit drag show… lol y'all will twist ANYTHING," he tweeted on Monday. Bella DuBalle, a Memphis-based drag queen, previously spoke to Insider about the Tennessee bill and the rise in legislation that associates drag performances with sexually explicit acts.

☆ Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Reaches $3.3 Million Whistleblower Settlement
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Elizabeth Findell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

AUSTIN, Texas—Texas taxpayers will pay $3.3 million to whistleblowers who reported alleged wrongdoing by their boss, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton , to law enforcement, under the terms of a mediated settlement agreement filed Friday. The settlement is contingent upon the funds being approved through the Texas Legislature, attorneys said. It would put an end to legal battling between Mr. Paxton and his former top deputies, who in 2020 accused him of using his office illegally to interfere with a federal investigation into a campaign donor.

☆ With over 100 anti-LGBTQ bills before state legislatures in 2023 so far, activists say they're 'fired up'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

So far, Texas has taken the lead with 36 such bills, according to Equality Texas, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy group. Four states — Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee and Arizona — have enacted restrictions on gender-affirming medical care for minors, though federal judges have blocked them from taking effect in Arkansas and Alabama. State Sen. David Bullard, the Republican sponsoring the bill, told The Oklahoman that gender-affirming medical care is a “permanent change in your body that cannot be reversed. Accredited medical associations — including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association — have supported gender-affirming care for minors. Advocates and doctors who treat trans youth have said many of the health care restrictions proposed by state legislators mischaracterize what gender-affirming care is.

The proposals have alarmed voting rights activists and state Democrats, who tried and failed last year to block a GOP-backed overhaul of election laws — a priority of Gov. The 62 voting rights-related bills Texas lawmakers have already prefiled represent nearly all prefiled voting rights legislation across the country, according to a review of prefiled bills by Voting Rights Lab and NBC News. An election police forceRepublican-authored Texas bills, such as HB 549 and SB 220, propose creating a system of state “election marshals,” who would investigate allegations of violations of election and voting laws, and file criminal charges when warranted. Harsher penaltiesLegislation such as HB 39, HB 52, HB 222, HB 397 and SB 166 aims to raise the penalty for election and voting rights crimes to a felony from a misdemeanor. “All my bill does is restore the felony punishment for illegal voting,” Texas Rep. David Spiller, the author of HB 52, said in an interview.

The justices declined to review a ruling by a three-judge federal district court panel denying an injunction against the reconfigured state Senate district sought by the challengers. The dispute centers on a state Senate district that includes part of the city of Fort Worth in north-central Texas. loadingBlack and Hispanic plaintiffs sued after the Texas legislature approved new electoral maps in 2021. They argued that they had been "splintered" into other Senate districts where they will be "overpowered" by white voters. In their appeal to the Supreme Court, the plaintiffs said resolution was needed prior to the 2024 election.

☆ Texas GOP looks to restrict transgender health care and drag shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Texas Republicans introduced several bills this week that target the transgender community, including at least two measures seeking to criminalize gender-affirming care for minors and one bill looking to prevent children from attending drag performances. For minors, this type of care typically includes puberty blockers, which are recommended to trans youths before the onset of puberty, or hormone therapy for teenagers. The Texas bills come on the heels of a previous attempt this year by the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, to deem transition-related care for minors as child abuse under state law. Greg Abbott, the state’s Republican governor, subsequently called on citizens to report parents of transgender minors to the state if they suspect these minors are receiving gender-affirming care. The state’s current definition of “sexually oriented businesses” includes any venue where two or more people perform nude and alcohol is served.

Audiences will see how the battle in the Texas Legislature over gender-affirming care for trans children is far from a mere partisan philosophical argument or campaign talking point for me. That’s the year a flood of anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced in the Texas Legislature — the majority of which directly targeted trans kids and their families. This year dealt Texas trans families a double blow when state Attorney General Ken Paxton delivered a nonbinding legal opinion that gender-affirming care for children was child abuse — followed by a directive from Gov. We acted quickly as a family, breaking the news of our pending out-of-state move to Noah over an unforgettably sad dinner. Despite it all, Texas is where our hearts reside, no matter how many miles might separate us and how directly damaging Republican rhetoric has been.

Vallejo is one of three South Texas Democrats locked in highly competitive congressional races with Republicans who are Latina. “This is South Texas fighting for South Texas, and I need everybody in this fight with me,” Vallejo said at the event Monday. Clinton praised gains and growth in the Rio Grande Valley and South Texas. McCarthy, R-Calif., was in South Texas on Sunday for an event on behalf of the three Republican Latina congressional candidates who call themselves the Triple Threat. “We think it’s great that Bill Clinton is campaigning for Texas Democrats.

☆ Relatives of Uvalde victims call on 'disgraced' Texas public safety director to resign
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Oct 27 (Reuters) - Relatives of children killed in the Uvalde school shooting confronted the Texas public safety director on Thursday and demanded he resign over the failure of his agency's troopers to confront the gunman quickly and possibly save lives. "You have disgraced our state," Cross said at a podium as he looked directly at McCraw during a meeting of the Public Safety Commission in Austin. "Steve, the time is now: If you are a man of your word, you will resign." Even so, McCraw said he would only resign if an internal investigation finds that his agency failed the community of Uvalde. In July, the Texas legislature released a report blaming the response on "systemic failures" and poor leadership.

☆ Judge rules that Texas AG who ran away from being served a subpoena won't have to testify in abortion lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Texas AG Ken Paxton ran away from being served a subpoena for an abortion access lawsuit. On Tuesday, a judge ruled that Paxton did not have to show up for a hearing on that lawsuit, CNN reported. In a motion, the judge said Paxton feared for his safety since the process server was "unidentifiable." "Top executive officials should not be called to testify absent extraordinary circumstances," the motion from Judge Robert Pitman said, CNN reported. The subpoenas required Paxton to testify at a hearing on Tuesday on a lawsuit filed by abortion rights groups.

☆ Meet Matt Krause, the man who critics say helped make Texas a national leader in book bans
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Texas now has the highest number of book bans in the US. Texas is now a leader in book bans, and one influential politician — along with pressure from the GOP — may have been the driving force, a Houston Chronicle investigation found. By April 2022, a PEN America analysis found that Texas had 713 bans, nearly half of all book bans in the US. Some politicians and parent groups disagreed with the inquiryKrause denies any political motivations behind the book list, but critics disagree. For Foote, the book bans represent GOP political motivations, citing school board officials and lawmakers who have begun their own book challenges.

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