Good morning –

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Tuesday, October 6, 2020
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Upfront: A typo yesterday led to the misidentification of a state agency. There are eight of the 15 seats on the State Board of Education which are up this year, so roughly half the state will be considering those races. Also, the True Texas Project’s general election recommendations can be found here.

• Over the weekend, news broke that seven top aides to Attorney General Ken Paxton –arguably the team he assembled – had reported to law enforcement authorities “a good faith belief that the attorney general is violating federal and/or state law including prohibitions related to improper influence, abuse of office, bribery and other potential criminal offenses.” Brandon Waltens reported the details on Saturday.
      
• Among those signing the letter – and abruptly resigning – was First Assistant Jeff Mateer. Formerly of the conservative Christian public interest law firm known as the First Liberty Institute, Mateer has long been one of the most respected lawyers in the conservative movement – and one of the most despised by the political left.
     
• That’s not to side with Mateer; only to suggest that this situation doesn’t fall into the “Democrat dirty tricks” book that some Paxton defenders may want to tuck it into rather than address the facts.
     
• Paxton responded in a media release saying: “The complaint filed against Attorney General Paxton was done to impede an ongoing investigation into criminal wrongdoing by public officials including employees of this office. Making false claims is a very serious matter and we plan to investigate this to the fullest extent of the law.”
     
• Since then, it has come to light that the allegations involve Paxton allegedly bringing in an outside prosecutor to aid his friend and political benefactor, Austin real estate developer Nate Paul.
     
• For his part, Mr. Paxton says he brought in an “outside independent prosecutor to make his own independent determination” on the law enforcement case against Paul specifically because “employees from my office impeded the investigation and because I knew Nate Paul”. 
      
• On Monday, Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy became the first GOP official to call for Paxton’s resignation. It should be noted that Roy served as Paxton’s original First Assistant (the job Mateer just left). It should also be noted that Roy is in the fight of his political life, being challenged by left-wing celebrity politician Wendy Davis.
     
• Some will argue Roy is hurting himself by calling out a fellow Republican ahead of the election, while others will claim he is taking Paxton “off the table” for political reasons. Either way, it’s significant.
      
• Mr. Paxton did not specifically respond to Rep. Roy, but issued a statement saying he wasn’t leaving office. “Despite the effort by rogue employees and their false allegations I will continue to seek justice in Texas and will not be resigning.”

• Everyone involved on all sides of this mess deserve the presumption of innocence. The Attorney General of Texas and the employees of the Office of the Attorney General all work for the citizens of the Lone Star State. As citizens, we cannot afford the luxury of picking a side based on friendships or partisanship. We should be rooting for the revelation of all facts – in context – to reveal the truth of the matter.
   
• As citizens, we are the leaders in our republic. We must demand our employees – whether holding high and lofty titles or working as low-level bureaucrats – to operate with the highest levels of integrity. It is up to us as citizens to set the bar high.

• The chairman of the Federal Election Commission writes in a new commentary that individuals so vociferously pushing the vote-by-mail option may well regret their action. FEC Chairman Trey Trainor writes: “I can unequivocally state that the best way to make sure your vote counts in this election is to vote in person.”
         
• Trainor explains, “Mail-in ballots are the low-hanging fruit in an election contest and the easiest way to put the true outcome of an election in question and thereby allow the courts to determine the winner. This situation is easily remedied by Americans simply showing up at the polls and voting in person.”
      
• “Waiting weeks or months to learn the outcome of our elections is an embarrassment. Turning a blind eye to behaviors that knowingly lead to, and in some cases encourage, fraud is a dereliction of duty. Every citizen should resolve to mitigate this problem and commit to voting in person if possible.” – Trey Trainor

• The “51-percent” businesses – bars and nightclubs – say Gov. Greg Abbott’s order is killing them. Erin Anderson reports these business owners, who derive more than 51 percent of their revenue from alcohol sales, describe the governor’s coronavirus order keeping them closed as a “death sentence.”
      
• NOTE 1: A citizen-organized protest against Gov. Abbott’s continued lockdown of the Texas economy will be held Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Governor’s Mansion in Austin. You can learn more at the organizers’ Facebook page.
   
• NOTE 2: A pack of wild horses couldn’t keep me away; I will be there.

• And lastly... Texas Scorecard sued the Texas House last year after disgraced House Speaker Dennis Bonnen stalled our application for media credentials (which he later offered to grant if we played ball with him politically). The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday correctly ruled the matter moot, saying there was no likelihood of the Legislature being called into a special session this year and therefore we didn’t have need for the credentials.
    

• However, the Court wiped out a trial court ruling that the Legislature was shielded by absolute immunity (without commenting on the merits of that argument). They also provided clear and specific guidance for how to address the problem should it arise in the future.
     

• Moving forward, if the Texas House continues to engage in unlawful viewpoint discrimination, they can expect a lawsuit to proceed rapidly, following the guidelines outlined by the Fifth Circuit. Texans cannot tolerate a Legislature that gives special privileges to friendly media outlets while discriminating against those who tell the truth about what happens under the pink dome.

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