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Texas House to Vote on Impeachment of AG Ken Paxton

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The Texas House of Representatives will convene on Saturday at 1 p.m. to act on 20 articles of impeachment filed against Attorney General Ken Paxton. The House General Investigations Committee, composed of three Republicans and two Democrats referred the articles of impeachment to the House on Thursday evening.

Debate by the Texas House of Representatives on 20 articles of impeachment referred by the General Investigating Committee will begin on May 27 at 1 p.m. The debate is expected to last four hours and will be concluded by a vote of the House on whether to impeach AG Paxton. If the House votes to impeach the attorney general, the matter will be referred to the Texas Senate for a trial.

The 20 articles of impeachment (attached below) include allegations that include the misapplication of public resources, bribery, and obstruction of justice, Breitbart Texas reported.

Members of the committee include Chairman Andrew Murr (R-Kerrville), Rep. Ann Johnson (D-Houston), Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth), Rep. Oscar Longoria (D-Mission), and Rep. David Spiller (R-Jacksboro).

The committee spent months looking into allegations against Attorney General Paxton, Fox 26 Houston reported.

“Because of Paxton’s long-standing pattern of abuse of office and public trust, disregard and dereliction of duty, and obstruction of justice and abuse of judicial process, it is imperative that the House proceed with impeachment so that Paxton is prevented from using the significant powers granted to the attorney general to further obstruct and delay justice, not just by avoiding accountability for his wrongdoings, but by undermining the integrity of our state government,” the Republican-led committee said in a memo to the Texas House.

The committee proposed the allocation of four hours of debate on the House floor. Three hours of the time will be allotted to supporters and opponents of the impeachment. The committee reserved 40 minutes for opening arguments and 20 minutes for a closing statement. The 149 members of the House would then vote on the articles of impeachment.

Chris Hilton, litigation chief for the Texas Attorney General’s Office claims the impeachment is illegal because it violates Texas Government Code 665.081, Fox 4 Austin reported.

“It is not too late for the House to do the right thing and end this impeachment,” Hilton stated. “Texans knew about all of these allegations in the last election, and they rejected them by a margin of 10 percentage points.”

The memo from the General Investigating Committee rejected that opinion in the memo to the House, saying, “It does not apply to impeachment. The Texas Supreme Court has held that this provision does not apply when the Texas Constitution authorizes a procedure for removing a state officer.”

Paxton, who is not invited to speak during the House impeachment hearing, told reporters the impeachment vote is “deceitful” and an “act of political retribution,” the Austin American-Statesman reported.

“I hope the House makes the right decision, but, if not, I look forward to a quick resolution in the Texas Senate where I truly believe the process will be fair and just,” Paxton stated.

Republicans hold an 86-64 majority in the Texas House of Representatives. Assuming that all 64 Democrats would vote in favor of impeachment, only 11 Republicans would need to vote in the affirmative to move the impeachment to the Texas Senate for a trial.

Under the Texas Constitution, if the House votes to impeach Paxton, he would be immediately suspended from his position and Governor Greg Abbott could appoint an interim Attorney General.

Republicans also hold a 19-12 majority in the Texas Senate. The Texas Constitution requires a two-thirds majority of the senators who are present to convict and permanently remove Paxton from his elected position of attorney general. This means that nine Republican senators would have to join with the 12 Democrats to convict.

Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick told WFAA ABC 8 on Thursday night, “I don’t cast a vote. The 31 members cast a vote. I preside over it.”

“But we will all be responsible as any juror would be if that turns out to be and I think the members will do their duty,” Patrick stated.

Paxton is currently serving in his third term as Attorney General of the State of Texas.

While the 88th Session of the Texas Legislature is about to come to an end, the Texas Constitution allows both chambers to remain in session to carry out their roles in the process. If the Legislature adjourns, there are multiple avenues available to call the Legislature back into session to vote on impeachment and conduct the trial.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.

112 Pounds of Fentanyl Seized near Border in California

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San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents seized approximately 112 pounds of fentanyl. The seizure followed a traffic stop on Interstate 8 near the Pine Valley checkpoint on May 18.

San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Aaron M. Heitke tweeted photos of bundles of blue fentanyl pills seized by Campo Station agents near the Interstate 8 checkpoint. The fentanyl weighed approximately 112 pounds.

Campo Station agents conducted an immigration inspection traffic stop on Interstate 8 near Pine Valley, California, on May 18, according to a statement from Border Patrol officials. During the stop, a Border Patrol K-9 team conducted a walk-around search of the vehicle. The K-9 alerted to the possible presence of drugs in the SUV.

The agents transported the driver, a U.S. citizen, and the vehicle to the nearby immigration checkpoint for a physical search of the vehicle. During the search, the agents found nine plastic-wrapped packages containing blue pills.

The pills tested positive for fentanyl, officials stated. Agents determined the weight of the pills to be 112 pounds with an estimated street value of more than $1.5 million.

The agents turned the driver over to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. The Drug Enforcement Administration took possession of the fentanyl pills.

“Transnational criminal organizations do everything they can to distribute these harmful narcotics and earn their profits with no regard for the destructive effects they have on our communities,” San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Aaron M. Heitke said in a written statement. “Our Border Patrol agents remain vigilant, day and night, to intercept these poisons and the smugglers who transport them.”

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.

Mexican President Tells U.S. Hispanics Not to Vote for DeSantis

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Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is asking Hispanics in Florida not to vote for Ron DeSantis in his bid for the 2024 presidential nomination. The Mexican politician claims that DeSantis, much like other Republicans, is using an anti-immigrant message for political purposes.

Despite his constant criticism of the U.S. government for interfering in other countries’ politics, Lopez Obrador (AMLO) openly called for Hispanics in Florida to not give a single vote to DeSantis.

“I’ll take the time to tell Mr. Santi [sic] who unmasked himself [this week], see I wasn’t wrong,” Lopez Obrador said as he waved his hand in a greeting fashion. “That all of his politicking about migrants was because he wants to be the candidate for the Republican Party.

The Mexican President criticized DeSantis claiming that he had applied anti-migrant policies in his state and as such he hoped that Hispanics repaid him at the polls.

“I hope the Hispanics in Florida wake up and don’t give him a single vote,” Lopez Obrador said. “That they don’t vote for those who target migrants. Those who don’t respect migrants.”

Lopez Obrador called DeSantis a hypocrite and asked for him to be investigated to see if he had hired migrants.

DeSantis, like various other U.S. politicians, have fiercely criticized Mexico’s government in connection with the current fentanyl crisis. The extremely dangerous drug is linked to record-setting overdose deaths. As Breitbart Texas has reported, Lopez Obrador falsely denied that fentanyl is produced in Mexico and claimed that the problem is caused by the U.S. demand for drugs. AMLO claimed that Florida should be investigated to see if the ports of that state could be the entry point for fentanyl from Asia.

As Breitbart Texas has reported, Lopez Obrador verbally clashed with U.S. politicians who he believes are interfering in Mexican politics. He has also stated that he will be asking people to not vote for certain candidates that do not align with his view.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected]. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].   

Migrant Apprehensions at Border Continue to Drop Post-Title 42

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The apprehension of migrants crossing the borders between ports of entry continues to decline following the end of Title 42 on May 11. During the past three days, agents apprehended approximately 2,900 per day. This is down from a daily apprehension in excess of 9,000 per day in the final days of Title 42.

Despite warnings from the Department of Homeland Security that migrant apprehensions could climb to as many as 18,000 per day following the end of Title 42, the number of actual apprehensions actually fell dramatically. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz tweeted on Monday that agents apprehended only 8,750 during the previous three-day period.

On May 10, the apprehension of migrants who crossed between ports of entry peaked at more than 10,600, Breitbart Texas reported. By May 21, the number of apprehensions fell to 2,898 (down 73 percent), according to a law enforcement source.

For the past several days, the Del Rio Sector regained the number one position in terms of Migrant apprehensions, Breitbart reported on Sunday. That remained consistent with the migrants apprehended on Sunday as Del Rio agents apprehended 1,069 migrants. This represents nearly 38 percent of all migrant apprehensions on that May 21. Del Rio Sector agents apprehended 5,007 migrants during the past five days, the law enforcement source stated.

Over the weekend, Del Rio agents found two abandoned children in the custody of a group of migrants who had just crossed from Mexico into Texas. The migrants told the agents they found one young girl and a female infant abandoned on a road in Mexico and brought them across the Rio Grande to Texas.

In addition to the 8,750 migrants apprehended during the past three days, Chief Ortiz reported an additional 3,441 migrants were classified as got-aways. These are migrants who are estimated to have crossed the border and not been apprehended. These got-aways represent more than 28 percent of the 12,195 known border crossers.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.

EXCLUSIVE: Texas Border Sector Returns to Number 1 Position in Migrant Apprehensions

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The Del Rio Sector once again became the busiest along the southwest border as agents apprehended an average of nearly 1,200 migrants per day for the last four days. The nearly 4,000 migrants apprehended in the sector during the past four days accounted for more than 30 percent of the total migrant encounters along the entire southwest border.

Del Rio Sector agents apprehended 3,978 migrants during the past four days, according to a law enforcement source. This positioned the Del Rio Sector, once again, as the busiest in the nation. The sector fell much lower in the rankings for the past few months as migrant crossings moved to the El Paso and Rio Grande Valley Sectors.

Agents in the sector are again being challenged with processing large groups of migrants crossing the river together. While processing the groups, Eagle Pass Station agents found two small children who had been abandoned on the side of the road in Mexico and carried across the river by other migrants. One child appeared to be an infant girl.

On Saturday morning, a group of 74 mostly Honduran, Guatemalan, and Nicaraguan migrants were apprehended near the international bridge near Eagle Pass, Texas.

During the evening on Friday, more groups of migrants crossed as agents had to process 120 migrants.

With the passing of Title 42, agents are now faced with the longest processing time of putting migrants into the expedited removal process via Title 8. Due to this, and the increasing number of migrant crossings. the Eagle Pass soft-sided processing center is now at 150 percent of its capacity, according to a different law enforcement source. This means that as many as 2,000 migrants are being held in the facility designed to hold between 1,000 and 1,500.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.

Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol.  Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.