New: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office has sidelined four of the seven senior aides who weeks ago told law enforcement they believed Paxton had committed bribery and abuse of office, firing two and placing two more on leave. bit.ly/37Biph4
The aides, who represented a large share of the agency’s most senior staff, alerted law enforcement and then agency human resources that they believed Paxton was using the power of his office to serve a political donor.
Paxton has dismissed the whistleblowers as “rogue employees” wielding “false allegations.”
Employment attorneys say the sidelining looks like a clear act of retaliation against legally protected whistleblowers.

Read more: bit.ly/37Biph4
Ian Prior, a spokesman for Paxton's campaign, denied Friday that the personnel decisions had anything to do with the accusations against Paxton.

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More from @TexasTribune

23 Oct
New: Lawmakers and advocates are urging Texas regulators to reverse their decision to let social workers turn away clients who are LGBTQ or have a disability. bit.ly/35tdaxd
The social worker regulatory board unanimously voted last week to revise a section of its code of conduct that lays out when a social worker can refuse to serve someone.
The code will no longer prohibit social workers from discriminating on the basis of a disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Read 5 tweets
21 Oct
🚨 Texas voting PSA 🚨

Oct. 23 is the deadline for counties to *receive* completed mail-in ballot applications, not the deadline for applications to be requested.

If you still need to apply to vote by mail, here are your safest options as that deadline approaches ⬇️ Photo of a paper application for a ballot by mail
Applications can't be dropped off in person now that early voting has begun.

They still must be received by the county by Oct. 23.

It's unlikely that applications requested online will make it to Texans through the mail in time for them to make it back to counties by Oct. 23.
So you can print the application off directly here instead: webservices.sos.state.tx.us/forms/5-15f.pdf
Read 6 tweets
20 Oct
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton gave his first interview about recent criminal allegations to a website that has been identified as part of a pay-for-play network. bit.ly/37rYp0q
Ian Prior, who promoted the story for the Ken Paxton campaign, told The Texas Tribune that the campaign did not pay the outlet to run the story. bit.ly/37rYp0q
The @nytimes reported this week that the website belongs to a national network of some 1,300 pay-for-play outlets that publish on-demand coverage for Republican political campaigns and public relations firms. nyti.ms/3kuEq4Z
Read 4 tweets
19 Oct
Texas election officials may continue rejecting mail-in ballots if they decide the signature on the ballot can't be verified, without notifying voters until after the election that their ballot wasn't counted, an appeals court ruled Monday. bit.ly/2T9EFpW
Before mail-in ballots are counted, a committee of local election officials reviews them to ensure that a voter’s endorsement on the flap of a ballot envelope matches the signature that voter used on their application to vote by mail.
They can also compare it to signatures on file with the county clerk or voter registrar that were made within the last six years.
Read 6 tweets
17 Oct
1/6 As of Friday, 1,983,090 people voted in person or by mail in Texas’ 10 largest counties — 20% of registered voters in those counties.

57% of Texas’ registered voters live in these 10 counties, according to the secretary of state.

apps.texastribune.org/features/2020/…
2/6 Due to the pandemic, this election’s early voting period was extended by a week, and officials are expecting a surge in mail-in voting.

Both factors could contribute to higher turnout for early voting.
texastribune.org/2020/10/14/tex…
3/6 Two key Texas counties have seen a rush of voters coming to the polls during early voting.

Harris County has gotten attention for long lines. But Denton County has had the largest increase in early voting over 2016 so far.
texastribune.org/2020/10/17/har…
Read 6 tweets
15 Oct
Texas State University is "pausing" its employee diversity training following a recent executive order by President Trump that bans some forms of anti-racism programming among federal grant recipients. bit.ly/316AYWk
Other major Texas universities like the University of Texas at Austin and Texas Tech are evaluating the order to ensure policies are compliant, but those schools have not yet suspended any training sessions. bit.ly/316AYWk
Trump’s executive order, signed on Sept. 22, requires federal contractors and agencies that receive federal grants to discontinue training that contains “any form of race or sex stereotyping” and other "divisive concepts." bit.ly/316AYWk
Read 4 tweets

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