Free Republic

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is planning to raise money for former President Donald Trump in the coming weeks, putting into action the commitment he made at a meeting with Trump last month to help his former rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, according to two people familiar with the matter. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details have not been finalized and plans could still shift in the weeks ahead. Still, DeSantis is making calls to donors while his finance team works quickly to put together a schedule that would...

Houston’s police chief has resigned after emails obtained by a local news outlet appear to show that he knew about massive failures in the department well before he said he did. Within hours of issuing a statement about the findings, he resigned. In February, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner first announced that the Houston Police Department dropped 264,000 crime reports, including violent crimes and sexual assaults, which weren’t investigated because a “lack of personnel” code was assigned to them, The Center Square reported. In March, new Houston Mayor John Whitmire appointed an independent panel to review an internal HPD investigation...

The fatal shooting of a male at 1415 West Gulf Bank Road about 12:30 a.m. today (May 9) will be referred to a Harris County grand jury. The identity of the deceased male is pending verification by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. The male shooter, 53, was not injured in the incident. HPD Homicide Division Detectives M. Perez and S. Overstreet reported: HPD patrol officers responded to a shooting at an apartment complex at the above address and were directed to an unresponsive male near a dumpster across the parking lot from one of the apartment buildings. Houston...

Five shot in Northeast Side home At around 7:40 p.m. Wednesday evening, May 8, Bexar County deputies were called to home on the Northeast Side of San Antonio after reports of shots fired. Investigators would arrive to a grisly scene where some 30 rounds of ammunition were fired into the home of a family, including two adults and five children under the age of 10. All five of the family members were transported to a local hospital in critical condition, and Bexar County Sheriff Salazar said the shooters – two men donning balaclavas spotted from security cameras on neighboring homes...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has become the subject of much bemusement among his Senate GOP colleagues as he has taken a detour from his role as a conservative rabble-rouser to playing the lead on reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Texas senator, long-known for stirring up trouble for leadership, has suddenly gone in the reverse as he has prodded Republicans against gumming up the works for the last must-pass bill in Congress for months. But the irony is not lost on lawmakers who have watched Cruz’s mischief up close and personal, especially on government spending battles throughout the years....

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said he has concerns about Sharia law being “forced upon the American people” during remarks on the House floor Tuesday. “Well, I’ve got some pretty strong concerns about Sharia law,” Roy said while discussing his broader worries about border security and foreign aid. “And whether that’ll be forced upon the American people.” In the remarks, Roy referenced a “massive Muslim takeover of the United Kingdom” and said he had “pretty strong concerns about people who wanna see Israel’s destruction, who were happy about Oct. 7, who were elected in the United Kingdom.” “Some might say that...

"By departing from this sensible arrangement, and allowing the Secretaries to dismantle National Guard units on a whim, Legislative Proposal 480 would set a dangerous precedent," he added. "Members of the Texas National Guard must always stand ready to respond to natural disasters, civil disturbances, and cartel activity that threaten our way of life."

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas voters said they’re leaning more toward sending Sen. Ted Cruz back to Washington rather than unseat him in November, according to new polling numbers released Wednesday. The April poll conducted by the University of Texas and the Texas Politics Project showed the two-term Republican incumbent leading U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, his Democratic challenger, by double digits. Pollsters asked a group of 1,200 registered voters between April 12-22 who they would support in the U.S. Senate race if the election was held today. A plurality of the respondents (46%) said they’d vote for Cruz, while 33% shared...

Rep. Henry Cuellar's chief of staff quit after the Texas Democrat and his wife were charged by the Justice Department with bribery and fraud. Jake Hochberg served as Cuellar's top aide since 2021 but left the office on Monday, multiple people familiar with the situation confirmed to Punchbowl News. The sources say that more staffers are also considering leaving in coming days.

A group of influential Republican senators has sent a letter to International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan, warning him not to issue international arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, and threatening him with “severe sanctions” if he does so. In a terse, one-page letter obtained exclusively by Zeteo, and signed by 12 GOP senators, including Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Florida’s Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz of Texas, Khan is informed that any attempt by the ICC to hold Netanyahu and his colleagues to account for their actions in Gaza will be interpreted...

Expert worries they are 'coming to this country to commit acts of sabotage'.. More Chinese-based illegal immigrants were encountered at the U.S. southern border in just two days than in all of fiscal year 2021, according to Fox News’ Bill Melugin. There were approximately 262 Chinese migrants caught by Border Patrol at the San Diego sector on May 1, as well as 223 on May 2, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) source told Melugin. Only 323 Chinese nationals were apprehended by Border Patrol at the southern border throughout all of fiscal year 2021 ... There has been a surge...

Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife were indicted Friday on charges of conspiracy and accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from foreign entities, the Justice Department announced. Prosecutors allege Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, began accepting the roughly $600,000 in bribes beginning as early as December of 2014 from an oil and gas company owned by Azerbaijan's government as well as a bank headquartered in Mexico City. While Cuellar's wife allegedly propped up sham front companies on the promise of providing consulting services to the two companies in order to launder the payments, she "performed little to no...

These are the professional protesters who descended on the University of Texas's Palestinian demonstration earlier this week despite having no connections to the school. Among them is a former elementary school teacher, a costume designer, a Palestinian store-owner and an interpreter. Their ages range from the early 30s to one man who is 59, and none are enrolled at the college.

Federal authorities searched the congressman's home in Laredo in 2022 as part of an investigation into the country of Azerbaijan and a group of U.S. businessmen. WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is expected to announce the indictment of longtime Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, on Friday, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. Cuellar’s home and campaign office in Laredo, Texas, were raided in January 2022 as part of a federal investigation into Azerbaijan and a group of U.S. businessmen who have ties to the country, law enforcement said at the time. His office had pledged to cooperate with...

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is expected to announce the indictment of longtime Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, on Friday, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.Cuellar’s home and campaign office in Laredo, Texas, were raided in January 2022 as part of a federal investigation into Azerbaijan and a group of U.S. businessmen who have ties to the country, law enforcement said at the time. His office had pledged to cooperate with the investigation. In April, Cuellar's lawyer, Joshua Berman, told some news outlets that federal authorities informed him he was not the target of the investigation.

SH 36 in Temple has been reopened after a nearly 350,000-pound distillation column fell off the back of a semi-truck and onto a car Saturday morning, killing two people and sending one to the hospital in critical condition, according to the City of Temple. The column pinned the vehicle underneath after it was detached from the semi-truck and took a coordinated effort from several different departments to remove it, Temple Fire and Rescue Public Information Office Santos Soto said. "That load was bigger than anything that we had equipment for and we worked with several different agencies to get several...

Call it pinko talent development, but we can still learn from it When Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Texas governor Greg Abbot proposed legislation making particular radical tactics crimes — many of them felonies — carrying mandatory jail time, much commentary, positive and negative, focused on DeSantis’ proposal (previously made by other jurisdictions) that a driver fleeing from safety from a mob should not be liable for injury or death caused by hitting someone with his car. That proposal was especially popular with those who, beyond supporting the right to physical safety and self-defense, fantasize about breaking radical Lefty movements...

The lawsuit by the State of Texas, challenging the federal requirement to pay taxes and register homemade silencers, is moving forward in the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Oral arguments are scheduled for April 29, 2024. The case is now known as Paxton v Dettelbach. On February 24, 2022, Ken Paxton, the Texas Attorney General, filed suit against the acting head of the ATF, then Marvin Richardson. The lawsuit was required by Texas law. HB 957 became law in Texas on September 1, 2021. On July 15, 2022, Paxton, acting for the State of Texas, amended the lawsuit...

Seventy-nine people were arrested in connection to the pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas on Monday, according to the Travis County sheriff’s office. Seventy-eight of those arrested were charged with criminal trespass, and one person received an additional charge of obstructing a highway or passageway, said Kristen Dark, sheriff's office public information officer. One person was also charged with interfering with public duties, Dark said. Unlike last week, the University of Texas Police Department was not the lone arresting agency. Dark said the Austin Police Department is listed as the arresting agency for four protesters. The 57 people arrested...

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Police said Tuesday they’re launching an investigation into who provided drugs that resulted in 51 suspected overdoses and possibly eight deaths throughout Austin. During a news conference Tuesday afternoon, detectives told reporters they detained at least two people, calling them persons of interest in this deadly overdose investigation. One of those people is now facing a felony charge of in possession of a firearm, police said. However, more charges and arrests could be forthcoming. “It is apparent there is a deadly batch of illicit narcotics in our community,” APD Asst. Chief Eric Fitzgerald said, adding police...