H-Town Nicknames

49 days. Seven weeks. That is how long until Election Day. Heck, I am ready to cast my ballot today. Last time I checked, my ballot still has not been mailed.

Meanwhile, according to Donald Trump, the rhetoric of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris is creating a climate that is bringing out would be assassins. Oh, brother. This is from the fella who tweeted out “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” Sunday morning. The same fella who led the insurrection on January 6. The same fella who is saying there will be a bloodbath when he loses on November 5.

Like I said, I am ready to cast my ballot today.

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It looks like crooked Texas GOP AG Ken Paxton is still not out of the woods. This just came out from BloombergLaw.com:

Federal prosecutors in Texas had drafted bribery and obstruction charges against state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) before the US Justice Department took over the case in early 2023, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

Now almost two years later, the probe into Paxton’s alleged bribery and misuse of office has continued, including in a recent deposition of Aaron Reitz, Paxton’s former deputy for legal strategy and now Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s chief of staff, another source said. Appearing before a grand jury on Aug. 6 in Austin, Reitz answered prosecutors’ questions about Paxton’s termination of whistleblower employees in 2020, a source said.

Reitz’s testimony shows that prosecutors are moving forward in interrogating Paxton aides after a federal appeals court ruled in June that they must testify because they aren’t entitled to attorney-client privilege.

Prosecutors haven’t announced any charges in the almost four-year-old probe.

Before the Justice Department took control last year, San Antonio-based prosecutors led the investigation for more than two years. The prosecutors were awaiting approval from the Justice Department to present the charges to a grand jury when the higher office took over, the source said, adding that the reason for the switch in teams is unclear.

Ashley Hoff, then-US Attorney for the Western District of Texas, declined to comment.

The decision to subpoena Reitz shows prosecutors are interested in allegations that Paxton, a three-term Republican, violated the federal Whistleblower Protection Act in firing employees who made a complaint against him to the FBI.

Reitz helped prepare an internal office report that examined allegations from the fired employees that Paxton engaged in bribery with a friend and concluded Paxton had done nothing wrong, according to an email used as evidence in Paxton’s impeachment trial last year. Reitz is quoted in a report used in the trial saying the aides were fired for “holding the agency hostage,” with poor work habits, not for the FBI complaint.

Reitz didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment, nor did the Justice Department. Cruz declined to comment on Monday, referring questions to a spokesman who did not return requests for comment.

The grand jury proceeding comes as Cruz, Reitz’s current boss, faces a competitive race for re-election against Democrat Colin Allred in November. And it comes as Republicans target the Department of Justice for the agency’s multiple indictments of former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee who counts Paxton among his top supporters.

Paxton’s lawyer, Dan Cogdell, declined to comment.

Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.  This thing isn’t over until it’s over. The arsehole Paxton isn’t on the November ballot, so he won’t be impacted by the 60-day preelection day guideline. Aw, shucks.

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Last I checked, the pipeline is still spewing flames out in Deer Park. See the featured photo. The fire even made “Today” this morning.

There is an article in today’s hard copy Chron on H-Town nicknames like Bayou City, Space City, Clutch City, Screwston, and H-Town/HOU/HTX. We like to call ourselves the Energy Capitol of the World, so with that and after yesterday, we might as well add Pipeline Paradise to the list.

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Speaking of H-Town, Mayor John Whitmire will give his first State of the City address today at the Hilton Americas.

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We lost last night. Our lead is now 4 games in the AL West with 12 games left to play on the regular season schedule.