Embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has seen his share of trouble, from an indictment for securities fraud to an ongoing FBI investigation. But regarding bribery allegations, he’s been cleared – by his own office, at least.
James Barragán, political reporter for The Texas Tribune, calls it the “talk of the town in Austin”: the attorney general clearing himself of allegations leveled by former employees Paxton either fired or forced out of the office.
“It remains to be seen what happens other than this internal report,” Barragán told Texas Standard, noting those bribery and abuse of office allegations are the substance of the FBI investigation into Paxton.
And, another executive order from Gov. Greg Abbott on COVID vaccine mandates came down this week, specifying the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration cannot be mandated by local governments. Previous bans on vaccine mandates only applied to those approved under emergency use authorization.
“There was some wiggle room there, potentially,” Barragán said, stating that the FDA’s action could have cleared the way for cities to issue mandates. “But Gov. Abbott shut that down this week with his new order.”
Finally, this week the U.S .Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration’s “remain in Mexico” policy for migrants attempting to enter the United States could remain in effect. Learn more about what Barragán calls “a big blow for the Biden administration” in the audio player above.
