The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 20, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Thursday, November 20th, and you're listening to the Texans' Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans assistant editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, Governor Greg Abbott designated the Muslim Brotherhood and Council on American Islamic Relations as foreign terrorist organizations this week. and now he is directing the Texas Department of Public Safety to launch criminal investigations into both groups. Abbott said in a press release announcing the investigations, quote, the goal is to identify, disrupt, and eradicate terrorist organizations

Starting point is 00:00:44 engaged in criminal activities in Texas. He continued, quote, we will target threats of violence, intimidation, and harassment of our citizens. We will also focus on individuals or groups who unlawfully impose Sharia law, which violates the Texas Constitution and state statutes. In a letter addressed to DPS Director Freeman Martin, Abbott alleged that both the Muslim Brotherhood and C.A.I.R., quote, support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment, and are, quote, unacceptable and have no place in Texas. Abbott is directing DPS to gather

Starting point is 00:01:25 intelligence and initiate investigations, utilizing federal partnerships and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. He also asked for inquiries into potential illicit funding and money laundering, including identifying any potential engagement with criminal activities. The governor's letter calls on DPS to work with the Texas Office of the Attorney General for this investigation. Next, Harris County has been accused of allowing voters to register with a post office box instead of a residential address in violation of a 2021 state law, which could trigger significant consequences for the county, including a loss of state funding for the elections department. According to a letter sent by state Senator Paul Bettencourt to Harris County Tax Assessor Collector

Starting point is 00:02:11 and voter registrar Annette Ramirez, his office has identified registrations listing a UPS store as a home address. Sixty-five registrations list the same location on Westheimer Road and to Another 59 individuals are listed as living at one location on Waugh Drive. Betancourt notes that those are the only two locations his office has investigated, but that there are likely others. Betancourt's letter was also sent to the Texas Secretary of State Elections Division. It constitutes the first step in a process that could trigger sanctions according to state election code. Under Senate Bill 1113 approved in 2021, the Secretary of State may withhold state funding for the county's voter registration operations if the voter registrar does not remove ineligible voters

Starting point is 00:03:01 from the rolls. A second law, SB 1933, passed in 2023, creates a civil administrative review process that allows candidates and select elected and party officials to take complaints of election irregularities to the Secretary of State to initiate election audits and possibly assign a conservator to take over county elections. In other news, Some families of 346 passengers who were killed in two separate Boeing plane crashes are asking for the reversal of a Texas court's decision that dismissed the company's criminal conspiracy charge. The families filed a mandamus petition in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on November 13th, alleging that the non-prosecution agreement entered into by the U.S. Department of Justice with Boeing violated their rights as victims and treated them unfairly by not granting a, quote, opportunity to reasonably confer about the important aspects of the dismissal motion. Last week, Judge Reid O'Connor of the Northern District Court of Texas in Fort Worth

Starting point is 00:04:06 granted the DOJ's motion to dismiss Boeing's felony conspiracy charges, related to the two deadly crashes as part of their non-prosecution agreement. Last but not least, senior reporter Brad Johnson spoke with State Representative Briscoe Cain about his campaign for the U.S. House in Texas' new Congressional District 9. Kane also shared his thoughts on the recent ruling that enjoined the mid-decade congressional redistricting map, his continued commitment to his campaign, and his work in the Texas legislature, including his pivotal role in passing the Texas Heartbeat Act. Visit the texan. Or wherever you get podcasts to listen now. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan,

Starting point is 00:04:48 please be sure to visit the texan. News and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters and podcasts.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 20, 2025

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