Good morning,

For better or worse, social media drives the news cycle. Today's One Click Survey asks you about it.

This is the Texas Minute for Monday, February 5, 2024

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Republican Governors Warn of 'Imminent Danger' at Border

• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott gathered with 13 other Republican governors at Shelby Park on Sunday to assert the states’ right to self-defense even as President Joe Biden is allowing the border crisis to continue. Sydnie Henry filed a report from Eagle Pass.
      
• Shelby Park had long been a convenient hotspot for illegal crossings, where government agents merely processed the aliens and released them into the country. After the state took control of the park from the city, fortified the border at the crossing points, and denied federal agents entry, the inflow of illegal aliens has been drastically reduced. This, in turn, has caused furor from the Biden administration. 
     
• In his remarks, Abbott warned of the “imminent dangers” of allowing such vast numbers of illegal aliens into the country without proper vetting. He cited the recent arrest by the Texas Department of Public Safety of an MS-13 gang member who was on the FBI’s terrorist watchlist.
      
• Governors from Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Utah attended the press conference.
      
• “Each one of us understands the devastating effects that the border policy has had on every one of our states individually. And we’re here together to collaboratively work to support Texas and to provide for the safety and security of people all across the country.” – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee

Florida Deploying National Guard to the Texas-Mexico Border

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is sending National Guard troops from his state to assist Texas in securing the southern border. As Emily Medeiros reports, up to 1,000 troops will be deployed as well as elements of the Florida State Guard. 
•      
• Idaho Gov. Brad Little has authorized a small envoy of state troopers to be sent to Texas. 
      
• In all, two dozen states have voiced their support for Texas's efforts but most have not committed to taking any particular practical action.

Cruz: Biden is 'Declaring War' on Texas

• On Friday's edition of his podcast, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said the Biden administration's decision to temporarily pause applications for liquified natural gas export terminals is tantamount to "declaring war" on Texas. Luca Cacciatore has the background.
       
• Cruz pointed out the suspicious proximity of the LNG announcement to the federal government’s ongoing feud with Texas over concertina wire put up along the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass’ Shelby Park.
         
• The senator characterized the administration’s decision as “a fine on American families” and “a subsidy” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Will Texas' Supreme Court Remain Independent of Establishment Donors?

• Last week, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily stalled a slew of depositions demanded by former employees of Attorney General Ken Paxton. Daniel Greer examines the coming conflicts between the justices and their big-money donors who want Ken Paxton kicked from office.
      

• At issue are donations and behind-the-scenes machinations by the lobby group "Texans for Lawsuit Reform." The big business PAC leaders have disapproved of Paxton's fight against woke banks, big tech, and big pharma.
      

• TLR has been working to remove Paxton after their failed multi-million dollar campaign to defeat him in 2022. This includes TLR's intimate involvement in the (failed) impeachment effort against Paxton.
      

• For example, documents obtained ahead of the Senate trial show TLR president Dick Trabulsi conspiring with political commentator Karl Rove to undermine Paxton in the national media. TLR lobbied Rove to have the Wall Street Journal publish an article that had been ghost-written under the name of former Gov. Rick Perry. The "Perry" op-ed was published by the WSJ  just days before the trial began
      

• Republican members of the Senate exonerated Paxton after two weeks of actual testimony.
      

• The impeachment push hinged on the reliability of "whistleblowers" from Paxton's office who said they were unfairly fired. Despite the Senate's exoneration of Paxton, the former employees re-upped a lawsuit against him, hoping to depose their former boss and the A.G.'s senior staff.
       

• Justices are not expected to take the matter up again until after the GOP primary.

State Takes Over Scandal-Plagued La Joya School District

• A South Texas school district plagued with public corruption scandals is the latest target of a takeover by the state agency that oversees government education. Erin Anderson has the details.
       
• La Joya ISD is a low-income district in the Rio Grande Valley that receives 90 percent of its revenue from outside the district. Only 40 percent of the district’s 24,000 students perform at grade level across all subjects.
      
• The district is rife with corruption. Takeover talk began in 2022, when U.S. attorneys charged two school board trustees and three district administrators with federal financial crimes committed from 2017 through 2020.
     
• Prior to the TEA investigation, the "poor" La Joya ISD earned national notoriety when it opened a $20 million water park and sports complex.
       
• Late last week, the Texas Education Agency announced the appointment of a seven-member board of managers and a new superintendent to temporarily lead La Joya Independent School District.

Democrat: Only a “Hispanic Candidate” Can Beat Ted Cruz

• While U.S. Senator Ted Cruz is expected to win re-election this fall, Texas Democrats are battling over who will be their party's nominee. As Adam Cahn reports, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (Dallas) and State Sen. Roland Gutierrez (San Antonio) are the leading contenders.

     
• Observers had assumed the contest would be decided, in part, along regional lines (Dallas/North Texas vs. San Antonio/South Texas); Gutierrez is making the race about race.
     
• Gutierrez said it takes "a Hispanic candidate, a strong Hispanic candidate" to flip the seat. He claims Cruz "steals a vote" because of his last name.
     
• The general election will be held on Nov. 5, 2024. No Democrat has won a statewide election in Texas since 1994.

Quote-Unquote

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so."

– Ronald Reagan​

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