Good morning,

This is the Texas Minute for Thursday, October 24, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Paxton Exposes Gruesome Details of Child-killer Robert Roberson

• Attorney General Ken Paxton is setting the record straight on the facts surrounding convicted child-murderer Robert Roberson, amid a push by anti-death penalty advocates to spare him the death penalty—and jail time altogether. Brandon Waltens reports on the horrifying details.
      
• Roberson was convicted of killing his two-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis in 2002. While he was scheduled for execution last Thursday, members of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee and the George Soros-backed Innocence Project group have worked to turn his case into a cause célèbre. 
         
• Roberson refused to testify by video link, so the committee heard instead invited testimony from witnesses such as TV talk show host Dr. Phil and novelist John Grisham. Every witness invited to testify sided with Roberson, painting a picture of a man who committed no crime and claiming that his daughter’s death was due to other circumstances or medical issues.
         
• Now Paxton is rebutting what he is characterizing as lies coming from Democrat State Rep. Joe Moody, who chairs the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, and Republican State Rep. Jeff Leach. In a report released late Wednesday, Paxton went into gruesome detail about the fatal injuries sustained by Nikki at the hands of her father.
       
• These were the details heard by the jury and reviewed by countless appellate judges in upholding the death sentence Roberson received, which lawmakers and the convict's lawyers refused to discuss. 
      
• "According to doctors testifying at the trial, Nikki died from substantial blunt force head injuries that clearly indicated the girl had been struck," explained Paxton in a summary of the case.
      
• CAUTION: The article contains graphic depictions of violence and assault.

Speaker Phelan Still Silent on Impeachment Costs After 401 Days

• Yesterday marked the 400th day that House Speaker Dade Phelan has refused to reveal how much his chamber spent on the failed impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has spent more than a year demanding a full, transparent audit of the costs.
     
• While the Senate promptly disclosed their costs, showing $435,000 spent during the two months of preparation and the trial, Phelan and the House have remained silent.
      
• Open records requests have uncovered that the impeachment process cost taxpayers at least $4.3 million, including payments made to a public relations firm both before and after the trial. But there are still a lot of costs that have not been made public.
       
• Patrick is continuing to call out Phelan’s lack of transparency. "What is Dade Phelan afraid to show the public? Millions upon millions of your money, spent on high-priced private lawyers who lost the case, in addition to the costly state expenses. We’re all waiting, Dade..."
        
• Phelan is currently facing two challengers for the Speakership—Republican David Cook and Democrat Ana-Maria Ramos. When asked by Texas Scorecard if they would release the information if elected Speaker, neither candidate responded.

DHS Identifies 600+ Illegal Aliens Possibly Tied to Tren de Aragua 

• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has identified more than 600 illegal aliens in the U.S. who may have connections to the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang. Addie Hovland reports nearly 100 of them are confirmed members of the gang.
        
• DHS has recommended that those confirmed members be placed on an FBI watchlist.
      
• It is difficult for officials to determine how many members of Tren de Aragua are possibly in the country because the Venezuelan government, unlike other countries, will not release criminal history information to the U.S.
       
• Tellingly, the Heritage Foundation has reported that there has been a 25 percent drop in violent deaths in Venezuela since Kamala Harris was named the "border czar" by Joe Biden in 2021.

RELATED NEWS

• As Emily Medeiros reports, more than 1,000 border patrol agents have been assaulted by illegal aliens in the last two years.
      
• Texans Troy Nehls and Wesley Hunt are among the lawmakers looking for answers from the administration.

Federal Government Sued For Refusing to Identify Noncitizens on Texas Voter Rolls

• Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the federal government for refusing to provide Texas with information necessary for identifying potential noncitizens on voter rolls. Will Biagini has the story.
   
• According to the attorney general, because the Biden-Harris administration is required by federal law to assist states in verifying the citizenship status of individuals suspected of being ineligible to vote, their inaction constitutes a violation of law.
      
• Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson joined Paxton in filing the lawsuit.
        
• In early October, Paxton demanded that the federal government verify the citizenship status of approximately 450,000 voters. These voters reportedly never had their citizenship verified because they registered to vote without either a Texas driver’s license or an ID card.

Quote-Unquote

"Progress, the religion of those who have none."

– Lord Acton​

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