The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 3, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy, folks, today is Monday, November 3rd, 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, a New York Supreme Court justice has dismissed a lawsuit from the state of Texas that sought to fine a New York-based doctor for allegedly providing abortion pills to a Texan. The original lawsuit was filed back in December 2024 against Dr. Margaret Daly Carpenter, who is alleged to have provided abortion drugs such as Mifah Pristone to a 20-year-old pregnant resident of Collin County via telemedicine. New York Supreme Court Justice David M. Gandon issued the order on Friday last week. Carpenter is the first doctor to be found liable under Texas' abortion trigger law that went into effect after the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Starting point is 00:01:01 The New York Supreme Court is not the state's court of last resort, but a statewide trial court with multiple judicial districts. In February, a Texas district court found Carpenter, who does not live in Texas, in violation of a portion of the Texas Medical Practice Act and Texas Health and Safety Code, resulting in a fine in excess of $100,000. Next, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz is calling for the impeachment of a federal judge following revelations that Cruz's phone records were subpoenaed as part of the FBI's Arctic Frost investigation. Arctic Frost was a federal investigation launched by the FBI and led by Special Counsel Jack Smith in late 2022, regarding then President Donald Trump and his allies' effort to submit an

Starting point is 00:01:51 alternate slate of electors in the 2020 presidential election. The investigation, according to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, singled out Republican Senators' personal cell phones and issued 197 subpoenas, which included, quote, testimony, communications, and records related to at least 430 named Republican individuals and entities. Arctic Frost, initiated in April 22, was transferred to Smith in November of that year. The 2023 subpoenas were issued in regards to Republican members of the Senate and 92, quote, Republican-linked individuals and Republican groups, such as Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA under Arctic Frost's investigative scope.

Starting point is 00:02:39 Cruz's phone communications were one of those subpoenaed during the investigation. The senator speculated that U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Chief Judge James Boasburg, who issued the order, abused his power by issuing the subpoenas, which Cruz called, quote, a dereliction of duty and a violation of the judicial oath. In other news, Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Lee Finley is now the defendant in two different court cases, with the most recent, his divorce, drawing an unusual legal parallel to another high-profile case in the same county, Finley's political supporter, Attorney General Ken Paxton. Both cases raise questions about the public's constitutional right to access court,

Starting point is 00:03:25 documents and attend proceedings regarding public officials. Finley's divorce case also comes just two months after state Senator Angela Paxton filed for divorce against her husband, Ken, saying the decision was based on, quote, biblical grounds, end quote, in a post on social media. The two cases have multiple similarities and connections. Finley and Paxton are both statewide elected officials and political allies, and both convince the district courts in Collin County to approve agree-to orders sealing their case records from the public, a move that a coalition of state and national media outlets say runs in contravention to the Texas Constitution's open court's doctrine. Last but not least, a Republican candidate for Bell County Treasurer has one campaign promise, fire herself from the job by eliminating

Starting point is 00:04:17 the very office she's running for. Adrian Hodges, who declared, her candidacy for the Bell County Treasurer's Office on Tuesday, is taking notes from Galveston County, where Treasurer Hank Dugie booted himself from the job after one year by eliminating the office altogether. Hodges asserted that the county currently spends, quote, over $800,000 on a treasurer's office that duplicates work already done by the county auditor. Duggy proceeded Hodges' campaign concept, as Galveston County became the most recent of 10 counties in Texas. to abolish its treasurer position in 2023. During the year that he presided over the office,

Starting point is 00:04:57 he eliminated five separate staff positions under his jurisdiction before he successfully eliminated his own. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the texan. News and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts. Thank you.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 3, 2025

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