The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - April 22, 2024

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy, folks. Today is Monday, April 22nd, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans assistant editor, Rob Lausches, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. Over the weekend, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $95 billion foreign aid package that will send money to Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific. The individual bills were first introduced through a procedural vote on Friday, and then each bill was passed before being rolled into a larger package. The TikTok divestment bill and the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs, or REPO, bill were also passed before being tied in with the foreign aid bills.

Starting point is 00:00:48 The bills will now be packaged together and sent to the Senate. Following the passage of Ukraine funding, many House members waved Ukraine flags on the floor while chanting, Ukraine. House Speaker Mike Johnson went on to explain that the House package has many provisions, including a loan instrument and the funding for Ukraine, and oversight, so money being sent as part of the Israel package is not used by terrorist organizations. The bill package, Johnson explained, also includes sanctions on Iran, China, and Russia. In his nascent bid for Congress,

Starting point is 00:01:22 Brandon Herrera is putting two things to the test, embattled Congressman Tony Gonzalez and the ability of next-generation politicians to overcome statements and jokes made on social media. Known popularly as the AK guy, Herrera is a YouTuber boasting a large following whose shtick is firing cool guns and teaching his viewers about their characteristics and history. His ex-bio reads, Congressional candidate, YouTuber, Second Amendment absolutist, very politically incorrect. The field of Republican primary challengers pushed Gonzalez to a runoff, with the incumbent falling 4.6 points away from winning the primary outright. Herrera received 24% of the vote, finishing a comfortable second place and securing a runoff against the incumbent. Now, he's the last man standing between Gonzalez and a third term in Congress.

Starting point is 00:02:07 But one of his videos caught the attention of his opponent and a national media outlet. Quote, reads a headline from the publication Jewish Insider. The video in question is an informational on the MP40 submachine gun developed in Germany during the Nazi Third Reich. At the end of the video, Herrera says of the sarcastic tone and jokes, The best way not to repeat history is to learn about history, and the best way that I know to get you guys to learn about history is make really effed up jokes about it. In acknowledging the

Starting point is 00:02:45 edgy humor, Herrera unknowingly handed ammunition to his future political opponents, the effectiveness of which remains to be seen, and a potential dagger that Herrera has brushed aside. For the second time, Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza faces a citizen-filed petition against him, seeking his ouster from public office. And despite the first attempt proving unsuccessful, a state judge signed orders last week that could send the issue to trial. Garza, who is a progressive Democrat, has faced a battery of accusations regarding his office's decision to not prosecute certain types of crime or to subject certain law enforcement officers to higher scrutiny. He is one of the many big city DAs said to be the inspiration for a new law adopted last year to rein in rogue prosecutors.

Starting point is 00:03:30 House Bill 17 by Representative David Cook is a bipartisan legislation that enables any citizen with a clean background to file a petition in district court against a prosecutor for official misconduct, such as adopting a policy of refusing to enforce state law. A second petition was filed in early April by Mary Dupuy, and that lawsuit is now posed to give Garza some difficulty. The complaint, which is similar to the previous one, alleges that Garza subjects police officers to unfair prosecution and treatment,

Starting point is 00:04:00 such as submitting a misconduct complaint to the grand jury without first establishing probable cause, as well as preventing certain officers from testifying as witnesses in criminal cases. It also alleges that Garza refuses to enforce state drug possession laws, as well as state abortion prohibition laws. On Friday, Comal County District Judge Dib Waldrip, who is the chief administrative judge for the region, accepted the complaint and appointed Bell County Attorney Jim Nichols, a Republican, as prosecuting attorney to litigate the case. Thanks for listening. Be sure to visit thetexan.news and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - April 22, 2024

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