GOP-controlled Texas House votes to impeach Trump ally Ken Paxton 121-23
The GOP-controlled Texas House voted 121-23 to adopt 20 articles of impeachment against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton Saturday afternoon.
"I am beyond grateful to have the support of millions of Texans who recognize that what we just witnessed is illegal, unethical, and profoundly unjust," Paxton wrote in a tweet shortly after the vote, also appending a longer statement.
"I look forward to a quick resolution in the Texas Senate, where I have full confidence the process will be fair and just."
\u201cI am beyond grateful to have the support of millions of Texans who recognize that what we just witnessed is illegal, unethical, and profoundly unjust. I look forward to a quick resolution in the Texas Senate, where I have full confidence the process will be fair and just.\u201d— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@Attorney General Ken Paxton) 1685224547
Today's proceedings stemmed from an investigation targeting the three-term official's request for $3.3 million to pay a settlement to former employees who accused him of wrongdoing. The fired employees accused him of using his office to benefit a campaign donor, Nate Paul, as TheBlaze reported.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called Texas' top law enforcement officer "the strongest conservative AG in the country" in a series of tweets defending Paxton prior to Saturday's vote.
"No attorney general has battled the abuses of the Biden admin more ferociously — and more effectively — than has Paxton," Sen. Cruz wrote.
According to Cruz it should be left to the courts to sort out Paxton's "legal challenges." In his view, legislators should "respect the choice of the Texas voters" since "virtually all" of the information in the articles of impeachment were public prior to voters reelecting him.
\u201c1/x What is happening to @KenPaxtonTX is a travesty.\u00a0\n\nFor the last nine years, Ken has been the strongest conservative AG in the country. Bar none. No attorney general has battled the abuses of the Biden admin more ferociously\u2014and more effectively\u2014than has Paxton.\u201d— Ted Cruz (@Ted Cruz) 1685202723
Former President Trump defended Paxton and criticized Texas Republican Speaker of the House Dade Phelan (R) in a series of posts on Truth Social.
Trump called Phelan "barely a Republican" who "failed the test on voter integrity."
He praised Paxton as "one of the most hard working and effective" attorneys general in the state.
Prior to the vote, Trump vowed to "fight" Republicans in the Texas House who allowed the process to move forward.
In the Senate trial, senators serve as jurors while House members will present the case as impeachment managers, the outlet also explained. Paxton's permanent removal and ban from holding future office would require the support of two-thirds of senators.
11-year-old boy shot by police officer who responded to his 911 call for domestic violence: 'Why did he shoot me?'
An 11-year-old boy was shot by a police officer who responded to a 911 call about domestic violence in his home, Erie News Now reports.
The Mississippi boy, Aderrien Murry, was shot in the chest by an Indianola Police Department officer in the early morning when the officer responded to a domestic disturbance call that the boy himself made, according to his mother, Nakala Murry, and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
The mother told police that the father of another one of her children came to the home at 4 a.m. and was "irate," prompting her to ask her son Aderrien to call the police.
Upon arrival, Murry said the police officer “had his gun drawn at the front door and asked those inside the home to come outside.” She said that her son was shot as he was coming around the corner of a hallway into the living room.
“Once he came from around the corner, he got shot,” Murry said. “I cannot grasp why. The same cop that told him to come out of the house. [Aderrien] did, and he got shot. He kept asking, ‘Why did he shoot me? What did I do wrong?’” she added.
Murry said it felt like the shooting happened "one to two minutes" after the officer's directives were given.
After the boy was shot, Murry placed her hand on his wound to apply pressure while the officer tried to give first aid. The officer then put his hand on top of hers to try to stop the bleeding.
The 11-year-old was given a chest tube and placed on a ventilator at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson after developing a collapsed lung, fractured ribs, and a lacerated liver because of the shooting, his mother said. He was since released from hospital, according to CNN.
The family has been calling for the police officer's firing and held a press conference with an attorney. Attendees held signs such as "Your 'best' cop shot my baby."
Attorney Carlos Moore promoted the press conference on his Twitter page, saying, "We demand Justice for Aderrien Murry! He was unarmed and only trying to follow his mom who was victim of domestic violence. Officer Greg Capers must be terminated! See you at 7 pm!" Moore wrote.
\u201cBREAKING NEWS: Officer Greg Capers has been SUSPENDED from the Indianola Police Department for shooting this unarmed 11 year old boy named Aderrien Murry on Saturday morning. The family believes this is a step in the right direction but still demands that he be TERMINATED.\u201d— Attorney Carlos Moore (@Attorney Carlos Moore) 1684869300
"No citizen, no child in Indianola should be in this terrifying condition because of the actions of someone who is allegedly the 'best cop' in Indianola," the lawyer said.
The attorney also made demands that the officer needs to be "prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law" and also stated that Officer Capers is currently on paid administrative leave while the investigation is conducted.
Indianola Police Department did not provide comment when contacted.
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Medical center accused of performing illegal 'gender transitioning' surgeries on children — Texas AG launches investigation
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Friday that his office had launched an investigation into Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin after allegations surfaced that the clinic illegally performs "gender transitioning" surgeries on children.
In 2021, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services declared that gender surgeries on minors are "child abuse." Last year, Paxton issued an opinion that "so-called sex-change" surgeries and puberty blockers for children constitute child abuse under Texas law.
Paxton shared the announcement on Twitter, writing, "I am launching an investigation into Dell Children's Medical Center regarding gender transitioning of minors. Gender transitioning minors is child abuse, and child abuse will not be tolerated."
As part of the investigation, Paxton issued a Request to Examine to the medical center, which requires the institution to answer for the allegations to determine if any laws were violated.
Paxton said, "It is now alarmingly common for fringe activists to use their positions in medicine and health care to force experimental, life-altering procedures onto children."
"Across the country, there are doctors and health care professionals who appear willing to sacrifice the long-term health of American children, all in service to the increasingly dangerous fad of 'transgender' extremism," he continued. "It is deeply disturbing, and there is no place for it in Texas. Along these lines, there have been a number of recent reports about potentially illegal activity at Dell Children's Medical Center, and this investigation aims to uncover the truth."
\u201cBREAKING: I am launching an investigation into Dell Children's Medical Center regarding gender transitioning of minors. Gender transitioning minors is child abuse, and child abuse will not be tolerated.\u201d— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@Attorney General Ken Paxton) 1683300081
In April, Project Veritas released footage obtained by undercover journalists that captured Nora Scott, a licensed social worker with the Dell Children's Medical Center, explaining that children as young as 8 and 9 could receive genital-mutilating procedures.
"We do have patients who are starting [transition] as young as 8, 9 [years old]. So, we do have folks on the younger side," Scott stated in the video. "In regards to prescribing, that's up to the prescriber's discretion. They might just require a couple of appointments just to see, it might be appropriate after one. It's not something that we want to gatekeep and require someone to come see us 10 times before it's prescribed."
Following the video's release, Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Chip Roy vowed to investigate the Austin medical center.
Cruz told the Daily Caller News Foundation, "These experimental procedures fail to deliver on the promises made by gender ideology zealots and are more dangerous than the problems they seek to solve. While parents are often parroted specious talking points about how their children will harm themselves if they do not transition, the opposite is true."
Dell Children's Medical Center did not respond to a request for comment, the DCNF reported.
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Teen athlete's legs mangled in encounter with man Kim Gardner kept out of jail, prompting Missouri AG to demand the Soros prosecutor's resignation by high noon
Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has given St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner until high noon Thursday to resign or be removed. This ultimatum comes amid outcry over the reported destruction of a teen athlete's legs by an accused robber whom the Soros-backed prosecutor kept out of jail.
Bailey minced no words about his reason for seeking the Democrat attorney's resignation: "Instead of protecting victims, Circuit Attorney Gardner is creating them. My office will do everything in its power to restore order, and eliminate the chaos in St. Louis caused by Kim Gardner’s neglect of her office."
Gardner, the Soros-backed attorney who cut loose BLM rioters in 2020 and sought to punish Mark and Patricia McCloskey for having attempted to defend their home, has a long history of going lax on criminals and seeking politically motivated prosecutions.
The last straw appears to be the maiming of a 16-year-old volleyball player, Janae Edmondson of Tennessee, who had been looking forward to playing Division II volleyball in college. She had one leg mangled and the other severely damaged after a man freed from jail with pending robbery charges allegedly hit her, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Fox News Digital indicated that Edmondson was visiting St. Louis with her family for a volleyball tournament. A driver going 20 mph over the limit failed to yield and struck Edmondson in downtown St. Louis around 8:40 p.m. The victim was pinned between two cars and ultimately had both legs amputated.
21-year-old Daniel Riley was reportedly the man behind the wheel of the speeding car.
According to the Post-Dispatch, Riley was supposed to be under house arrest while out on bond for a 2020 robbery and armed criminal action. He violated his bond at least 50 times, including seven times in February. Gardner failed to put him back in jail.
Jeff Wismer, the assistant director at Middle Tennessee Volleyball Club, told KMOV, "A wonderful kid with a great smile, a three-sport athlete. ... She has lost both limbs below her waist, so for us, how do you find words to explain our sorrow? We really can’t."
Following the incident, there has been significant backlash, with many St. Louis residents and businesses alleging it could have been avoided had Gardner done her job properly.
"This crime was as preventable as it is tragic," said Jason Hall, CEO of Greater St. Louis Inc., the region's premier business organization. "While this tragedy may serve as a turning point in the efforts to strengthen public safety, it only highlights the lingering issues that have gone unaddressed for far too long. We need immediate action. These issues are not new, and solving them requires all of us stepping up and coming together as one metro to develop a regional strategy to reduce crime and strengthen public safety."
Hall added, "The ongoing failures of the Circuit Attorney’s office — with regard to the individual involved in this case as well as a litany of other cases that have not been brought to justice — are unforgiveable."
Bailey evidently agreed, demanding Gardner's resignation Wednesday evening and noting, "If she refuses, she will face immediate removal proceedings in the form of a writ of quo warranto brought by our office."
\u201cWe are giving Kim Gardner until noon tomorrow to resign. If she refuses, she will face immediate removal proceedings in the form of a writ of quo warranto brought by our office.\u201d— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@Attorney General Andrew Bailey) 1677114038
Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden said that Gardner "should resign or I will systematically and aggressively work with my colleagues in the #MOLeg to ensure her incompetence isn’t putting more lives in danger. The people of #STL deserve better and Missouri deserves better," adding that "Gardner is incompetent and grossly unfit to hold her office."
\u201cKim Gardner is incompetent and grossly unfit to hold her office.\n\nShe should resign or I will systematically and aggressively work with my colleagues in the #MOLeg to ensure her incompetence isn\u2019t putting more lives in danger. \n\nThe people of #STL deserve better and Missouri\u2026\u201d— Caleb Rowden (@Caleb Rowden) 1677072476
Gardner was denounced by members of her own party as well.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, a Democrat, said that the Soros-backed prosecutor had "lost the trust of the people."
Former Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt previously highlighted how "Kim Gardner has an abysmal record in prosecuting violent crime, has recently released and been complicit in the release of dozens and dozens of inmates who have been charged with violent crimes, and has a record of making politically motivated decisions not based on the law."
Gardner is the radical prosecutor who originally charged Mark and Patricia McCloskey in 2020 with felonies after they defended their home from BLM protesters who had demolished a fence and trespassed onto their property. The BLM trespassers were not prosecuted.
While she sought to punish the McCloskeys for defending their home, Gardner alternatively saw fit to release at least 36 BLM rioters arrested on suspicion of trespassing, burglary, causing property damage, stealing, and assault.
The Soros-backed attorney was later removed from the case against Mark McCloskey after Circuit Judge Thomas Clark II indicated that improper fundraising emails by Gardner's campaign infringed on the McCloskeys' right to a fair trial.
Gardner was accused in 2020 of traveling across the country and world on a criminal justice reform organization's dime without reporting it, in apparent violation of city and state law.
City Journal reported that Gardner was also reprimanded and fined by the Missouri Supreme Court for being untruthful during a failed prosecution of a political rival. Gardener "admitted to failing to produce documents and failing to correct misstatements during the course of the investigation."
St. Louis' homicide rate (per 100,000) skyrocketed from 64.5 in 2019 to 87.2 in 2020 under Gardner's watch. According to Neighborhood Scout, St. Louis ranks 1 (with 100 being the safest) on the crime index. The likelihood of becoming a victim of a violent crime under Gardner's watch is 1 in 67. The likelihood of becoming a victim of a property crime is 1 in 18.
Missouri Senate leader calls for Kim Gardner's resignation youtu.be
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Former Twitter employee claims Twitter killed election-changing story after FBI warned of Hunter Biden 'hack-and-leak operation'
Elon Musk recently released evidence that Twitter censored conservatives at the behest of the Democratic establishment. Democrats were evidently not alone in determining what kind of publicly relevant content should be censored on the social media platform.
The FBI also helped set the stage for Twitter's censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop story.
According to Twitter's former head of site integrity, outspoken Trump critic Yoel Roth, the FBI indicated in its weekly pre-election meetings with the social media company in 2020 that the company should anticipate a "hack-and-leak operation" by "state actors" involving Hunter Biden.
The New York Post reported that the specificity of these warnings and their wording primed Twitter to immediately censor the Post's bombshell Oct. 14 Hunter Biden laptop story, citing the tech company's "hacked materials" policy.
What are the details?
In a Dec. 21, 2020, declaration to the Federal Election Commission, Roth — who had previously compared the Trump administration to Nazis — said that he was "told in these meetings that the intelligence community expected that individuals associated with political campaigns would be subject to hacking attacks and that material obtained through those hacking attacks would likely be disseminated over social media platforms, including Twitter."
"I also learned in these meetings that there were rumors that a hack-and-leak operation would involve Hunter Biden," Roth added.
The FBI offered similar warnings to Facebook, which also censored the story, noting that it would be prudent to anticipate "Russian propaganda" ahead of the election.
Zuckerberg said on "The Joe Rogan Experience" that "the FBI, I think, basically came to us — some folks on our team — and was like, ‘Hey, just so you know, like, you should be on high alert.'"
"We just kind of thought ... if the FBI, which I still view as a legitimate institution in this country, it’s a very professional law enforcement — they come to us and tell us that we need to be on guard about something, then I want to take that seriously," added Zuckerberg.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg indicated that the Post's Hunter Biden laptop story "basically fit the pattern" of what the FBI had told the company to look out for. The company made sure few could read the story.
\u201cBREAKING: Mark Zuckerberg tells Joe Rogan that Facebook algorithmically censored the Hunter Biden laptop story for 7 days based on a general request from the FBI to restrict election misinformation.\u201d— Minds\ud83d\udca1 (@Minds\ud83d\udca1) 1661465924
Preemptive strike
The New York Post reported that the FBI not only primed social media companies to censor the Post's bombshell October 2020 report, but may have done so preemptively, possibly having known it was coming.
The FBI reportedly had a covert surveillance warrant enabling the bureau to spy on former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's online cloud.
With access to Giuliani's emails, both to the Delaware computer repair shop owner and to Miranda Devine of the Post, the FBI may have known that the Hunter Biden laptop story was going to be published and that it contained damning information about the Biden family.
Extra to the emails, the FBI also had a copy of the laptop since Dec. 9, 2019, so it likely knew how damaging its contents might be to the Democratic candidate's election chances. This also strongly suggests that the FBI knew that the contents of the laptop were not hacked or fabricated in any way.
In August, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) highlighted FBI whistleblower complaints alleging that "FBI officials intentionally undermined efforts to investigate Hunter Biden."
One whistleblower stated that local FBI leadership told employees, "You will not look at that Hunter Biden laptop" and that the FBI is "not going to change the outcome of the election again."
The cautioners
FBI Supervisory Special Agent Elvis Chan testified on Nov. 29 that he along with the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force and other senior FBI officials held weekly meetings with Twitter and other major social media companies, reported Fox News Digital.
Chan indicated that the bureau cautioned Twitter and Facebook against alleged Russian disinformation efforts ahead of the 2020 election.
According to the Post, Chan, who previously advanced the discredited claim that Russia interfered to help elect former President Trump in the 2016 election, was unable to recall in his deposition whether Hunter Biden was mentioned by name in the weekly disinformation briefings with the social media companies.
This claim is at odds with Roth's declaration that then-candidate Joe Biden's son had been mentioned by name.
Chan's testimony came as part of a lawsuit brought by Republican Attorneys General Eric Schmitt of Missouri and Jeff Landry of Louisiana.
The FBI agent and 46 defendants are accused of "coordinating with social-media platforms relating to censorship and suppression of speech on their platforms."
\u201cBREAKING: In Missouri and Louisiana's lawsuit against the Biden Administration for allegedly colluding with social media companies to censor speech, the deposition of an FBI official will move forward after our big win in Court earlier today. \n\nRead the ruling here -->\u201d— Attorney General Eric Schmitt (@Attorney General Eric Schmitt) 1668460401
"Big Tech has become an extension of Biden’s Big Government, and neither are protecting the freedoms of Americans; rather, they are suppressing truth and demonizing those who think differently. ... Ripped from the playbook of Stalin and his ilk, Biden has been colluding with Big Tech to censor free speech and propagandize the masses," said Landry.
Landry indicated that the purpose of the lawsuit is to "ensure the rule of law and prevent the government from unconstitutional banning, chilling, and stifling of speech."
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