Good morning, 

Yesterday, we asked about the border buoys in the Rio Grande... Find out what readers had to say at the conclusion of today's Texas Minute.

– Brandon Waltens 
Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023

Paxton ‘Whistleblower’: Investigating FBI Would Be ‘Insane’

• As the Senate’s impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton continues this week, the “whistleblowers” trust of the FBI and refusal to investigate the agency has taken center stage. 
   

• Five of those who have testified in the trial so far are among a group of former employees of the Office of the Attorney General that reported Ken Paxton to the FBI in 2020 due to what they said was illegal and unethical abuse of office.
   

• Specifically, they have alleged as part of their grievances against Paxton that he was abusing his office to help Nate Paul. Paxton asked them to look into alleged misbehavior from the FBI, after Nate Paul was part of a federal raid.
   

• Last week, Ryan Vassar—former deputy assistant attorney general for legal counsel and one of those whistleblowers—testified that he trusted the FBI, saying he had “no reason not to.”
   

• On Monday, another whistleblower—Mark Penley, the former deputy assistant attorney general for criminal justice–testified that he believed investigating the FBI would be “insane.”
   

• That trust for the agency is at odds with a poll of Republican primary voters in Texas taken last year following the agency’s raid of President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago residence which showed 73 percent had an unfavorable opinion of the agency. 
   

• The trial will likely end later this week.

Texas A&M Professor Decries Regents’ ‘Texan Whiteness’

• In a discovery revealed exclusively to Texas Scorecard, the American Accountability Foundation (a non-partisan watchdog group) has uncovered a shocking email sent by a Texas A&M professor.
   

• The email was found as part of an open records request from UT-Austin. AAF had sent the request as part of due diligence into Moody College of Communications journalism professor Kathleen McElroy. McElroy was recently the subject of controversy, after she was nearly hired as Texas A&M’s journalism school director before declining the offer following public backlash for her background in pushing divisive racial narratives.
   

• While the investigation revealed little new about McElroy, the tranche of documents released included an email from Texas A&M professor Nathan Crick to McElroy where he decried the Board of Regents for “holding onto their Texan whiteness.” He further suggests that regents possess “bags of oil money.”
   

• Notably, according to the A&M system website, regents Robert Albritton, David Baggett, and Jay Graham have direct ties to the energy industry. It is unknown whether Professor Crick intended his email as a personal attack on the regents in question.

New Mexico Governor ‘Temporarily Suspends’ the Second Amendment

• New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has “temporarily suspended” New Mexicans’ Constitutional right to bear arms in part of the state. Texas public servants are demanding action be taken to prevent this from happening in Texas.
   

• Soli Rice reports, due to a “rise in gun violence” and “drug abuse,” Grisham opted to issue an emergency public health order taking away the Constitutional right to conceal or open carry firearms—regardless of permits or licenses to carry—for 30 days in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. 
   

• Similar snatching of constitutional rights occurred during the Chinese coronavirus pandemic in 2021. All 50 U.S. governors invoked “emergency powers” to establish health mandates, business closures, curfews, and curtail free speech.
   

• “These same petty government tyrants tried repealing parts of the Constitution during the COVID lockdowns, so we knew it was only a matter of time before they tried attacking the Second Amendment in the same manner,” Chris McNutt of Texas Gun Rights told Texas Scorecard.
   

• During Abbott’s three-year-long state of emergency, state lawmakers attempted to pass legislation to remove the governor’s overreach of powers during a state emergency. The legislation was killed in the Republican-majority state House.

Another Texas Democrat Enters Race to Unseat Cruz

• Democrat State Rep. Carl Sherman says he will run for his party's nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. Emily Medeiros has the details. 
   

• Sherman made his announcement over the weekend, saying he’s ready to “fight for all Texans.” His record, however, shows a strong aherance to leftist values.
   

• Sherman recently earned a 5 out of 100 rating from Texas Right to Life and opposed the Texas Heartbeat Act, which made it illegal for an individual in Texas to kill an unborn child once the baby’s heartbeat was detected.
   

• He also has a career ‘F’ rating on Texans for Fiscal Responsibility’s index. His current rating for the 2023 legislative session is a 29 out of 100.
   

• Sherman enters an already crowded Democrat primary field that includes U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D–TX), Texas State Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D–San Antonio), and former Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez.
   

• The filing deadline is in December. The winner of the Democat primary will challenge Cruz in November of 2024.

Foreign Homebuyers Purchase More Than $4 Billion in Texas Real Estate

• A new report from the Texas Realtors finds that foreign homebuyers spent more than $4 billion purchasing Texas land from April 2022 to March 2023. Katy Marshall has the story.
   
• The report showed that international buyers purchased 10,000 homes in Texas during that time, making up 2.8 percent of all homes sold.
   
• Mexico provided the most international homebuyers at 41 percent. The other four top countries were China 8 percent, India 7 percent, Nigeria 5 percent, and Venezuela 5 percent.
   
• A different report from the National Association of Realtors puts Texas as the second most desirable state for foreign homebuyers—with more than 11 percent of the buyers purchasing residential properties in the state. Florida is number one.
   
• However, some have raised concerns that allowing foreigners to purchase Texas land may open the state to security risks.
   

• This spring, the Senate passed Senate Bill 147 that would have banned the ownership of Texas’ agricultural land, mineral interests, and timber by citizens, companies, or governmental entities of countries designated by the federal government as threats to U.S. national security. The legislation exempted homesteads, however.
   

• Despite public interest in protecting Texas’ land and resources, State Rep. Todd Hunter (R–Corpus Christi), who chairs the House State Affairs Committee, never gave SB 147 a hearing in the Texas House.

Huffines: Abbott Touting 'Misleading' Tax Cuts

• Former State Sen. Don Huffines of the Huffines Liberty Foundation recently accused Gov. Greg Abbott of misleading Texans regarding property tax cuts. Sydnie Henry has the story. 
   
• When the Texas Legislature finally passed a property tax relief package this summer, Abbott claimed it was the “largest property tax cut in Texas history—$18 billion.” However, some analysts have pointed out that the actual number is significantly lower.
   
• The Legislative Budget Board fiscal note shows that only $12.7 billion in new relief is going toward property tax cuts.
   
• "[B]y 2024, property taxes will be on the rise again, as high as $86 billion, up $2.5 billion from this year." –Don Huffines

Predators in Government Schools: Danger and Corruption

• In a new investigative series, Robert Montoya reports Texas’ government schools are a hostile learning environment with children regularly being sexually assaulted within them. The first part of that series is out now. 
   
• Additionally, the third episode of our podcast series Exposed: The Dark Side of Texas Schools is available now wherever you listen to podcasts!

Y'All Answered

A federal judge has ordered Texas to remove the buoy barriers from the Rio Grande, but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily halted that order.

Yesterday, we asked readers what they thought Gov. Abbott should do if that "stay" is lifted and federal judges demand that the buoys be removed. Just 4.3 percent of readers believe the state should "comply" with such an order, while 95.7 percent believe Texas should leave the buoys in place.

Here is a sampling of the responses we received...

• “Here's what Gov. Abbott should say: ‘Come and take it.’” – Fran Rhodes
      

• “We should leave the buoys in place, add more, and start sending immigrants back across the border as the federal government should be doing.  So far, all that Abbott has done amounts to ineffective political posturing.” – Robert Hooton
      

• "While I disagree with the order to remove the buoy barriers, Texas must either remove itself from the union, appeal to the Supreme Court, or obey the rule of law." – Gerald Slater
      

• “Texas has the right to protect itself from invasion if the Federal Government doesn’t do its job.” – Sharon Sapp
      

• “Comply with the order, then declare an emergency and post the guard on the border and not allow any illegal immigration in.” – James Davis
     

• “Our great State of Texas has every God-given right to protect its territory, and if the Federal Government will not do it, we damn sure will!” – Lori Lundy
      

• "We need to comply.  How can we not claim the Dems have gone rogue, when we are acting in the same manner?  I understand trying to protect the border from the onslaught of invasion; however, we can not act in the manner we abhor. We must take the high ground." – Greg Reinhart
       

• “I said leave 'em there, but that's mostly as a middle finger to a federal government that's done nothing to secure our borders.” – Cindy Armstrong
      

• “Gov. Abbott should not only leave the buoys but also install many more. If Biden says leave all illegal aliens in Texas; Texas should ship more to Delaware, Vermont, California, Illinois, New York and every Blue state in the USA.” – Danny Thompson 
      

• “Personally, I’d prefer land mines since crazy Joe created this mess, but buoys are a start.” – Priscilla Love
      

• “Perhaps Abbot should pursue a more ‘environment-friendly’ remedy: stock the Rio Grande with thousands of alligators!” –  Bill Parks
     

• “If the feds aren’t going to keep Texas safe, then Texans must.” – Steve Sullivan
       

• “These buoys placed by Abott are a step towards halting the invasion. A country with open borders is no country at all.” – Dana Krasinksi
      

• “Not only leave them in place but extend them and do everything else you can to discourage illegal immigration. We have long past the point of putting open, active defiance in play.” – Mike Masterson
      

• “Texas should not do one single thing that Biden and his goons tell us to do. NOT EVER!” – Nancy Sawyer
      

• “Since the federal government refuses to do its constitutional duty to protect and secure our borders – Texas should do it.” – Debra Davis
      

• “If the buoys are working, and apparently they are because otherwise no one cares, then they should be left in place.” – Roger Taylor
     

• “If I understand what I have read correctly, Texas has asked for assistance and received none. This has put an undue burden on the state and her people.  If the federal government can't/will not help with this issue, the State of Texas has no choice but to protect her borders and citizens.” – Anthony Fourman
      

• “If the Federal government starts enforcing the law, maybe then we could take the barrier down.” – William Chapman
      

• “Abbott should protect our border first and foremost.... unlike he's been doing. Don't remove the buoys. Stop the invaders. I'm so tired of seeing illegals on every street corner selling flowers. No one stops them. They're not contributing to our country. They are merely milking the teat of OUR tax dollars.” – Jamie Mueller
      

• “‘Comply’ but sue President Biden for not doing his job. Remember the constitution – "Protect and ...." The vice president should be removed because she was/is the border czar and has failed miserably at her job.” – Joe Zimmer
      

• “The buoys stay. Otherwise, we are not only complicit, we are aiding in the destruction of this country. We would be joining them in NOT doing our job.” – Bob Frapples
      

• “No, Texas should not remove the buoys.  The federal government has failed to secure our borders.” – Monte Long
      

• “Not only leave the buoys in place but string another 700 miles of them from the Gulf to El Paso.” – David Allen

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