Who Dat?

 Finally heard somebody talking sense on Russia-Ukraine. 

This guy understands too.

Geoge P. Bush Shenanigans in Texas

A few days ago, US Senator Ted Cruz (R, TX) sent a very public letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin requesting a full hearing concerning the FBI's conduct during investigations of politicians and candidates. This request is based on an internal FBI audit from 2019 that found nearly 750 rule violations during politically tinged investigations. I found the timing of Cruz's announcement significant. Those unfamiliar with what's going on in Texas politics might not. It just so happens that the Texas primaries were over on March 1st, but the runoff between the embattled incumbent Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton and George P. Bush is still to come on May 24th. Bush was propelled into the runoff by the late entry into the primary of one name pundits might recognize: US Congressman Louie Gohmert (R, TX). Gohmert and Paxton are two of the biggest Trump coattail riders in the business, so why did Gohmert choose to run against Paxton, especially so late in the election cycle that he was pretty much guaranteed to only play the role of spoiler? 

When Gohmert announced he was exploring a run, he said that he would only run if he received $1 million in funding within ten days. He received that funding, in large part because of $300,000 from one Mayes Middleton, a sitting Texas State House member who's net worth is around $2.3 million and was himself in a race of his own for a Texas State Senate seat. Shortly after Gohmert made this announcement, the previous candidate who attracted Middleton's money, another Texas State House member Matt Krause, withdrew from the race. Gohmert also received $250,000 from Krause's campaign fund. In other words, it's possible Middleton actually provided much more than $300,000 to Gohmert's campaign through Krause's campaign fund and behind the scenes requests to Krause. Krause is a conservative darling but has also expressed public support on multiple occasions for George P. Bush, including a ringing endorsement for Bush in Bush's last race for land commissioner which included Krause's own account of at least one personal discussion he has had with George P. Apparently, Krause has George P. on speed dial. Meanwhile, after leaving the race Krause immediately entered the race for a local DA's office that suddenly opened up for him after his retirement from the House. Interesting how people who do favors for the Bushes always seem to land on their feet. Why did Krause run against someone he supports wholeheartedly? The truth is Krause's only role in the race was as a spoiler. He's seen as more conservative than Bush, and so would be expected to take votes away from Paxton. Unfortunately, it didn't work, so Krause withdrew, and the Bush family of political accountants realized they needed more firepower to even get into the run-off with Paxton. Enter Louie Gohmert. Why did the maximalist Trumpian Gohmert run against a Trump endorsed candidate? 

The common theme here is Mayes Middleton's money, a man who attended the University of Texas Law school at the same time as George P. This is the same UT Law school that has endured pay-to-play scandals and accusations of favoritism when one of its regents, Wallace Hall, chose to be honest, go public, and try to reform it from a old boy credentialing business for aspiring politicians into a merit-based, real law school. A pretty reliable rule of Texas politics is the deeper you go, the more you start to doubt that anything is a coincidence. Middleton is also the man who has, according to several grassroots conservative House members, ruined the Texas State House Freedom Caucus. You know what else? Most of Middleton's personal wealth is due to his ownership of a small, independent oil business. Pretty easy for the Bush family to return the favor to Middleton once the hustle and bustle of the election cycle is over, certain in the knowledge that they have the FBI in their pocket. There will be no FBI investigation into soon-to-be Texas State Senator Mayes Middleton's finances. There will be no FBI investigation of Bush's conflict of interest when he directed Permanent School Fund investments to a business he founded. There will be no FBI investigation into Governor Greg Abbott's receiving five-figure donations from State Farm when it was involved in litigation against the State of Texas when Abbott was Attorney General. 

But, as Gohmert openly floated during the few weeks he was an actual candidate, there may be an FBI investigation into Ken Paxton getting some window trimming done on his house by a contractor who, dontcha knowit, also works for one of Paxton's former political donors on occasion. This is the same political donor, Nate Paul, whose house and business were raided by the FBI with no charges ever being filed. On the campaign trail, Gohmert sounded like a vice presidential attack dog candidate. His entire pitch was anti-Paxton. He claimed that Paxton was only running for office because he knew he was going to be indicted and he needed to stay in office to avoid going to jail. (Sound familiar?) Gohmert's only pitch in favor of himself was some absurd claim that Trump personally promised to endorse him in the race before Gohmert decided not to run. Then Trump endorsed Paxton, only to not endorse Gohmert when he changed his mind and ran anyway, and now Trump won't return Gohmert's calls or something. Gohmert also claimed that according to some Texas law, he even cited the law by its name and number, candidates cannot be removed from the ballot before the general, and so if Paxton is indicted or otherwise embroiled in an FBI investigation, we would be unable to replace him on the ballot for the general election and the Democrat would win. It was a pitch tailor made for the conservative base by professional political consultants and aimed right at Paxton. The goal of both Krause's and Gohmert's candidacy was to siphon votes away from Paxton. Krause failed due to his lack of statewide name recognition, so they turned to Gohmert, who succeeded. The final tally:

Paxton: 43%

Bush: 23%

Guzman (who announced very early and has nothing to do with this): 17%

Gohmert: 17%

This comes after many grassroots Trumpist groups enthusiastically switched their support to Gohmert because he was deemed more Trumpist than Paxton, some of whom claiming that they weren't helping Bush because Gohmert would make the runoff with Paxton. Some of them even cited Paxton's exposed affair with a staffer, as though that would make any difference to them if it were it Gohmert or the man who singlehandedly destroyed all conservative credibility on morality in politicians' personal lives, Donald Trump. Obviously, Gohmert's entry into the race forced a runoff by stealing Trumpist votes away from Paxton, benefiting Bush. Bush's team of highly paid professionals, including the FBI, can now implement their plan to make Paxton's supposed crimes front and center during the runoff where Bush is the only alternative. The Bush family machine clearly outmaneuvered the conservative grassroots here, and now Senator Cruz is being called in to help with damage control. Hence, Cruz's push for a hearing on FBI malpractice during investigations of politicians. He is sending a message to the FBI that their forthcoming politically motivated investigation into Paxton had better have all its ducks in a row or there will be consequences, as everybody knows Republicans will soon have the majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

Paxton is up 59-30 in the runoff against Bush. The Bushes must feel they have Paxton dead to rights to work so hard only to get into a race with that kind of uphill climb. I may be back commenting on this again when the fireworks are over.

Now that's whack.