NEW: We obtained a deposition shedding new light on the links between Texas AG Ken Paxton and Nate Paul, the developer linked to corruption allegations.
But when Nate Paul was asked about Ken Paxton’s decision to investigate the developer’s allegations that the FBI violated his rights when it raided his home last year (over objections from top staff) his lawyer asked for a break. Why?
H/t back to @JZBleiberg who we barely beat on this story. His story has more details about the alleged affair between Ken Paxton and Nate Paul’s employee, who is a former legislative staffer.
Today, I talked to the mothers of Garrett Foster, the man shot and killed last night at the protest in Austin, and his fiancee Whitney Mitchell.
The couple met in North Texas when they were teens. Foster cared for Mitchell, a quadruple amputee, full-time. dallasnews.com/news/texas/202…
Sheila Foster, Garrett's mom, said he was pushing his fiancee's wheelchair across the interaction just before the shooting.
“I don’t know what kind of a funeral he would have wanted because I never thought I had to discuss that with my son,” she told me. dallasnews.com/news/texas/202…
Patricia Kirven, Mitchell's mother, said her daughter is "physically is OK, but mentally she is not. ‘Inconsolable’ is the only word I can think of because she’ll talk for a bit and then break down.”
@LaVendrickS 2/When a 29-year-old man was arrested for the shooting, the affidavit gave us some more details about the crime. In it, the transgender woman said the man who shot her said homo/trans-phobic things.
@LaVendrickS 3/ The arrest affidavit included a name for the victim. But we knew that probably wasn't the one she used. We didn't include it in our reporting.
Instead, we wrote a longer piece about the most recent attack and anti-trans violence in Texas.
Today, we piggybacked on @thedailytexan story about a #UT student who says he lost his ROTC scholarship due to Trump's ban on #transgender troops.
Since then, we've found out some more details.
2/ Map Pesqueira, 19, told @thedailytexan he lost a three-year scholarship he'll begin receiving next school year because he has taken steps to medically transition.
3/ The DoD told us they were not aware of Pesqueira's case.
But a spokesperson told me the new "policy states that anyone enrolled in ROTC for the upcoming academic year falls under the 2016 policy." Seemingly, this means Pesqueira could keep his scholarship.
Today, the @TXSBOE will hear public testimony on eliminating Helen Keller, Hillary Clinton and dozens of other people from the state's history curriculum.