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Ken Paxton
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Christina Quinn
If you eat too many ultra processed foods, you could be starving your gut microbes and they'll get hangry. That's one of many things I learned after working on a new audio course about the gut microbiome. You can learn how to keep your gut happy by listening to Try this from the Washington Post. I'm Christina Quinn. I host Try this Dig in with Me on practical advice for life's common challenges. Follow Try this right now, wherever you're listening. Seriously, try it.
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Lisa Booth
The Truth with Lisa Booth where we try to get to the heart of the issues that matter to you. Today we're Diving into the high stakes battle over redistricting in Texas with Attorney General Ken Paxton, who's also running for Senate against Sean Cornyn. As Democrats flee the state to break quorum and block GOP led maps, there's been accusations of gerrymandering and voter suppression that have been flying. There's data showing some stark disparities in states and Democrat states like California, where Republicans hold 40% of the vote but only 17% of the congressional districts. Also states like Massachusetts, where 35% of the vote Republicans have gotten, but yet they hold zero seats. Zilch, nada. So needless to say, the fight over fair representation, well, it's red hot. You've probably seen the news. The media has been covering it. So we'll unpack it today with Attorney General Ken Paxton. So stay tuned to unpack all of this on the legal, the political and the ethical firestorm. Well, Attorney General Ken Paxton, it's great to have you on the show. You're a busy man right now. Texas is getting a lot of attention right now, so I know that you've been busy. You know, so it is rare to do a, you know, mid decade redistricting, which is what Texas is doing right now. But like on the gerrymandering front, like if this were California or Massachusetts or New York, would anyone be talking about it?
Ken Paxton
Oh, Massachusetts doesn't have a single Republican congressman, not one. They gerrymander it so good that there's a Republican can't win up there. I think if you go to Illinois. So these are the states where the Democrats left you. Illinois has three Republicans out of 1714 Democrats and New York is similar. So these states are, all these Democratic states are really, well, gerrymandered much better than we are. We're, we're, we're almost in line with our representation. Democrat, Republican.
Lisa Booth
Yeah. I mean, you look at Massachusetts, So Republicans got 35% of the statewide vote, yet hold zero. As you mentioned, of the seats, out of the nine congressional seats there, you know, the list kind of goes on. California 1, 40% of the statewide vote, hold 17% out of the seats, 9 out of 52. You know, New Mexico got 40% of the statewide vote, Hold 0% of congressional seats there, the House seats there. So, you know, the list goes on with the left, I guess. What, what is. Because typically the redistricting is done every decade after the census, I guess. What is the basis for, for doing it now?
Ken Paxton
It's pretty simple. Our state has grown more than any other state in the country. We've Added millions of people. And so the representation is out of balance. So because we have more people moving into certain areas and so some people are overrepresented now, some people are underrepresented. So it's not like we're adding new representatives because you only get those every 10 years. However, because of our growth pattern, we need to reach all the lines so our people are more fairly represented.
Lisa Booth
So basically the Democrats pieced out, or at least I think it's like, is it still 51 out of 62 of the house Democrats fled?
Ken Paxton
Yeah. Yes, that's my understanding.
Lisa Booth
Yeah. Okay. So basically what they did is they left to break quorum, more or less. So because Texas requires 100 of its 150 members present to conduct business and there's 88 Republicans. So these Democrats fled to places like Illinois and other places in the country. Why do you think they did that? I mean, obviously this is not the first time they've done that either.
Ken Paxton
This is the third time. So I was in the house in 2003. They left then. They did it in 2021. They left and then. And by the way, in 2023 we were trying to redistrict during regular session and we ended up going and regular session ended in May, start in January. We were in session until October, waiting for them to come back. Middle of October we finished. So they, it's interesting that they have done this three times, but they have never left the state for any other issue, any other controversial issue that they thought they were going to lose on. They would come in and fight this one. They don't. They disappear. It's really, really interesting and it is so interesting to me that the Democrat states that they're going to, I don't know if they just don't get it or there's that much hypocrisy that those states are so gerrymandered and yet somehow they have self righteous attitude of oh, what you guys are doing is so evil and bad. But we're doing it and it's just fine. We're doing it. We're doing it much better than you. So it's okay.
Lisa Booth
Well it's also like a little rich for those on the left to talk about like threats to democracy after trying to jail President Trump in, you know, I guess four different, you know, occasions of four different cases.
Ken Paxton
And me they came after me too.
Lisa Booth
Yes. And then kick him off the ballot in certain states. So like it is like a little rich. I think they've sort or you know, light Tesla's on fire or attack ICE agents or, you know, call ICE the Gestapo and, you know, try to encourage, you know, these massive attacks that we've seen on ICE agents. Like, it's a little rich to be lectured about threats to democracy from them.
Ken Paxton
Well, especially when they're also, they've been the masters at rigging elections. If you look at the Democratic states, one, they, they mostly don't have photo id. So it's, it's much easier to cheat if there's no photo id. And I know that because we used to prosecute voter fraud. And so these states almost invite with mail in ballots and they invite voter fraud. So I mean, it's controlled by the left through the vote and you have people cheating and no one does anything about it in these states.
Lisa Booth
Well, it's also like they just opened the floodgates to illegal immigrants. And we've heard from people like Congresswoman Yvette Clark has said, I think on a couple of different occasions, once in an interview, at least that I've heard, and then also before Congress saying that she needs more migrants for redistricting purposes because we know that that changes the allocation of both electoral college votes as well as apportionment in the, for the Electoral College and for, for Congress as well for these House seats. So it's like, and that, you know, it's pretty easy to conclude that the whole reason why they opened the southern border is for redistricting purposes and for, you know, power purposes.
Ken Paxton
I totally agree. And can you imagine if we eliminated illegal immigrants from the census who can't vote or shouldn't vote? And we also got rid of gerrymandering in these states, how different Congress would look if it were done the right way.
Lisa Booth
What have you seen in Texas? I want to get back to the gerrymandering in a second, but just since we brought up the immigration aspect, how much has Texas changed since President Trump took over? I mean, I know we're, we're seeing like record lows that we've never seen before, but how has that, you know, positively impacted Texas?
Ken Paxton
Well, I mean, it's very illegal. Immigration has a lot of costs for us. It's very expensive because we have to educate, we're required by Supreme Court decision to educate everybody, take care of health care. We have law enforcement costs, we have social costs. We, we have welfare costs. It's, it's, it's billions and billions of dollars. And it also creates risk of crime. And we've had higher crime rates and people have been killed and higher drug crimes and More kids dying of fentanyl overdose. Those are all consequences of the Biden immigration policy, which was, let everybody in, we'll help you get here, and we'll help you. We'll help you stay instead of following federal law. So it has some very dramatic. Which is part of the reason, I think, many Hispanics in Texas have moved Republican, because they don't like that. They don't want people coming from across the border, from 150 different countries who are, who are higher risk of crime and who are causing them to have a harder life.
Lisa Booth
It is interesting. I mean, it's sort of a smart strategy, if you think about it, because, you know, they open the floodgates to millions of illegal immigrants, and then now they're fighting President Trump's deportation efforts to try to keep these people in the country. And then if they were to get another Democrat president in the country, like, boom, you know, open borders again. And then you look at the immigration courts and there's such a back backlog. I think it's like almost like 4 million people backlog in the immigration court. So it's kind of like a brilliant strategy if you think about it.
Ken Paxton
It is brilliant if you don't care about the consequences to America. You don't care about the law, first of all, and then you don't care about the negative economic and social costs of it and how it impacts America in a negative way. And knowing full well that, for instance, that children are going to die from fentanyl overdoses because you let the border, you let border control down. So they were willing to sacrifice the good of Americans for their political purposes. It's kind of evil to me.
Lisa Booth
Does it surprise you that they've gone as far as, like, with Kilmar Brego Garcia, who's obviously been accused of human trafficking, as well as, you know, being a part of MS.13 affiliated with MS.13 and a whole host of other concerns. Does it, did it surprise you that they went to the lengths of, like, visiting El Salvador and like, calling him a Maryland man and sort of like embracing this man who, you know, beat us a wife and also is allegedly affiliated with Ms. 13?
Ken Paxton
Even, you know, it's hard to say that things surprise me these days, but that even that was what that was across the line. U.S. senator, I think it was from Connecticut, Chris Van hall or whatever his name is, going down there to try to rescue this guy and help this guy that is truly a criminal, a bad criminal. It's even. I think that's really hard for most Americans to to accept or believe is actually happening.
Lisa Booth
We've got to take a quick commercial break. More with Attorney General Ken Paxton on the other side. If you're enjoying the episode, please post on social media or share with your friends. Are you feeling tired, foggy or low on energy lately? It might not just be stress. Your cells could be running low on fuel. That's why more people are turning to NAD plus and methylene blue, two powerful solutions that help boost energy, clear brain fog and get you feeling sharp again. If that sounds like you or something you've been wanting to explore, check out All Family Pharmacy. They make it easy with fast shipping, no insurance needed, and the doctor's prescription is included with every order. They're helping people think clearer, feel better, and finally get their energy back. And it doesn't stop there. This is your Go to pharmacy with over 200 medications available, including ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, antibiotics and even your daily meds. You choose what you need, they take care of the rest. Visit all family pharmacy.com USA and use code USA10 to save 10% today. That's all family pharmacy.com with coupon code USA10.
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If you eat too many ultra processed foods, you could be starving your gut microbes and they'll get hangry. That's one of many things I learned after working on a new audio course about the gut microbiome. You can learn how to keep your gut happy by listening to Try this from the Washington Post. I'm Christina Quinn. I host Try this. Dig in with Me on practical advice for life's common challenges Follow. Try this right now Wherever you're listening. Seriously, try it.
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Lisa Booth
Do they care about Americans? Because it's like I thought this was sort of, you know, adjudicated in this past election cycle where Americans were saying, you know what, like we're not being put first and you're prioritizing the needs of illegal immigrants. And we saw concerns and you know, a lot of inner cities as well with minority communities being really angry at the fact that their taxpayer dollars were going to illegal immigrants as opposed to them. And so you would think that they would recognize the connection between Americans, you know, being fed up with sort of illegal immigrants coming into our country, taking her resources and then yet Democrats seem to continue to prioritize their needs over American citizens.
Ken Paxton
I think they get so excited about the political benefits to them that they're willing to sacrifice and almost not notice the harm. Maybe push it aside, maybe they do notice the harm. I mean, I, it's hard for me to believe like the Biden administration was not fully aware when they said no more deportations that they were going to get a lot more people and that the cartels were going to be very excited about that and that there were going to be social costs, really bad social costs. Some people are going to die. It's hard for me to believe that they didn't know that since it's obvious that that's going to happen. So that if they knew about it, it's pretty evil. If they didn't know about it, it's pretty negligent.
Lisa Booth
So it kind of gets me back to where we started in terms of like, what do we do about some of this? You know, I mean, obviously the Democrats prioritize power over anything. And so it's like, how do you fight back? You've talked about, you know, potentially arresting some of the Democrats who left to break decorum. You know, what legal authority is there to, to do that? And is that happening? Or can you kind of give us an update on that aspect of this conversation?
Ken Paxton
Yeah, I mean, there were a couple of possibilities here. One, the speaker, had he thought about it or done it, he could have locked them in when they were here because they were here and before the map came onto the House floor, it came out of committee, they left. So we could have locked them in. Well, once they left, we, we, in 2021, my office went all the way to Texas Supreme Court and we got an adjudication or an answer that said yes, the speaker, if he, if he puts a call on the House, he can arrest these people and bring them back. They're not going to prison. They're being brought back to the Texas House. So that is perfectly appropriate. The problem is they go out of state and they go to liberal Democratic states where law enforcement will not help us. And so we don't have jurisdiction to go get them unless we had some help. But that may be, Remy. We have some ideas that we're working on probably this week that may impact our ability to go arrest them. And then the other possibility right now is we're trying to remove some of these people from office for not showing up for their jobs, which is, I think, a definite possibility.
Lisa Booth
And has that been done before or would this be the first time that's been done?
Ken Paxton
No, this was an idea my office came up with in 2021, the last time they tried it. It's never been tried. So, you know, this is definitely uncharted territory. And we, we, we're going to file on Friday against several reps Representatives that are gone. If they don't show up on Friday, the Speaker gave him a Deadline, you need to be back. He gave him a call and said, you need to be back on Friday. So we're gonna, we're waiting that out and if they show up, good, that's what we hope for. If they don't, then we're gonna pursue some of these representatives in court and try to remove them.
Lisa Booth
And so what sort of, I mean, I assume there's probably already lawsuits or will be lawsuits once the map is completed in Texas. Right. You'll probably face lawsuits for that and then lawsuits obviously, if, you know, you move forward with sort of vacating these seats. Like what, what sort of lawsuits, I guess, have you already faced in this and are you expecting that are incoming?
Ken Paxton
No, we're, I mean, we're still involved in litigation over the last map. That was trial. When I got, when I got into office, I was in litigation for like eight years over the previous map. So, yeah, it almost takes the whole 10 years to litigate. It's like crazy. Right? And we've won. I think we would win again on our last map. It won't matter if this one goes, when this one goes through, but yeah, I mean, we'll definitely get sued. This is a tactic that they, that the left uses, which is interesting because, you know, going back to our original conversation, the left and all these liberal states, how can you have a state in Massachusetts with no Republican House member and that get, get through? I mean, it just doesn't make any sense. Right. Or Illinois, that just has three. And as you mentioned, there are state after state, they seem to survive it and have no problem. And I don't even know if those states get litigation, but we do.
Lisa Booth
You're running for Senate against Cornyn, primaring him. You know, it kind of gets this broader question of, and I sort of wrestle this with, in my mind is like, obviously the left, they're drunk on power, like they'll do anything. They always believe in the ends, justify the means. I mean, Biden said that Trump should be put in a bullseye before he was almost assassinated. Right. Like that's how like evil these people are. But it's like if we respond in kind, does it just sort of like set off sort of this never ending cycle of whoever is not in power as you know, has to be concerned about being thrown in jail and arrested? Or is that sort of like inevitable? Like, I guess, I, I don't know. Like, how do you, how do you respond? What is the right way to respond to that level of abuse of power and like, like evil and, and justify the means mentality.
Ken Paxton
Well, and look, it's not just Democrats. I've seen it in my own party. I've been, I've had, you know, Republicans come after me in a very similar way. I hear what I've said is if, if we're trying to do this the right way, we have, we're at a real disadvantage to the left and to even some people, our own party, because we should be limited by the truth, the law and decency. So we're confined by those things because if we go, if we, if we don't care about the law and we don't care about the truth and we don't care about being decent to people, then how are we any better than the other side? So, but that really limits. So we, there are things we can't do. So we have to be better, we have to be more passionate, we have to care more and we have to work harder because we are at a disadvantage. Because they're not afraid. A lot of times they're not afraid of breaking the law. They're not afraid of using to weaponizing the justice system. They're not afraid to put people in jail that have done nothing wrong. They're happy to do it. And so we don't feel good about doing that. And so we really are limited, but we have won a lot of battles doing the right thing, the right way.
Lisa Booth
Do you think the Trump administration is being, you know, tough enough? We're seeing some of these criminal referrals for people who were previously involved in the Russia hoax and, you know, involved in, you know, sort of the abuse of power and the weaponization of government against President Trump during his first term. Do you think they're being tough enough in the response to all of this?
Ken Paxton
I, I like that they're now looking at the, this whole Russian hoax thing, which everybody knows was a total scam and the government was involved in it. They definitely should. This isn't just retaliation. This is like corruption in like, our justice system. There's a lot more of that. And, and I, I have information about corrupt people in, you know, Department of Justice and the FBI that I would love to have more access to to give them those names and then these people be fired. Because I know for a fact there are a lot of corrupt people still at DOJ and still at the FBI that have not been rooted out. And I am concerned that, you know, if, I mean, I understand the, you know, the Attorney General's only been there four months or whatever, but we cannot let this opportunity go to Waste. We have to root out corruption in those places.
Lisa Booth
Yeah. Because it's, you know, if it's not, then we're going to continue to see this and we might anyways. But you know, people, you know, it's just like the soft on crime stuff. People tend to not engage in criminality if they believe there will be consequences. And so.
Ken Paxton
That's right.
Lisa Booth
Yeah.
Ken Paxton
And if you root it out, I mean, if you get rid of some of these people that are willing to do that stuff, and we know that they are because they're, they've done it at the FBI, they've done it at doj. It's not just President Trump that suffered this. There were, you know, thousands of people who've been unjustly prosecuted. There are cases going on right now still from the Biden DOJ that have not been stopped, that have not that people are going to end up in jail and may have already ended up in jail that shouldn't have been there because they were attacked for, for their political views and they were, they were, there were contrived things made up about them. And you know, it's difficult when the federal government has all the assets and all the resources and you're in a liberal place and the jury's liberal and the grand, the grand jury's, they're all liberal. You're, you're, you're at a huge disadvantage.
Lisa Booth
And then real quick, before we go, I wanted to get this in obviously Texas after the, the floods just, you know, a lot, a ton of loss of life and you guys were very hard hit. It was really difficult. You know, I did some co hosting right after the flood took place and just really heartbreaking to hear some of these stories like how is Texas doing? And then, you know, also that's another aspect of trying to get these Democrats back to vote on, you know, legislation for, for funding and to take care of your people.
Ken Paxton
Yeah, I, I think that's really important to note because it's easy to forget it. You know, everybody saw the tragedy. People really jumped in. I was, and I was really just so encouraged by the volunteerism and the professionalism of, you know, the first responders that all just felt great. Problem they have is, you know, there's been millions and millions of dollars worth of damage and some of these communities don't really have a easy way of coming back unless they get some type of help. Both charitable government, federal, state, you know, they need help and it's just easy to forget that. And, and shortly after the tragedy's over and move on to the next problem. So hopefully, you know, we can get these Democrats back back to vote because that's another really important issue for the state.
Lisa Booth
Attorney General Ken Paxton. We're still praying for Texas. Appreciate you taking the time. I know you're a busy man right now, so we we appreciate you sharing your time with us.
Ken Paxton
Always glad to come on. Thanks for having me.
Lisa Booth
At least that was Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Appreciate him for taking the time to come on the show. Appreciate you guys at home for listening every Tuesday and Thursday, but you can listen throughout the week. Also want to thank my producer John Cascio for putting the show together. Until next time.
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Christina Quinn
If you eat too many ultra processed foods, you could be starving your gut microbes and they'll get hangry. That's one of many things I learned after working on a new audio course about the gut microbiome. You can learn how to keep your gut happy by listening to Try this from the Washington Post. I'm Christina Quinn. I host Try this. Dig in with me on practical advice for life's common challenges. Follow Try this right now. Wherever you're listening. Seriously, try it. This is an I heart podcast.
Podcast Information:
The episode titled "Redistricting in Texas: The Fight for Fair Representation Amidst Political Chaos" features a compelling discussion between host Lisa Booth and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The conversation delves into the contentious issues surrounding redistricting, gerrymandering, voter suppression, immigration policies, and the broader implications these have on Texas politics and national representation.
Ken Paxton opens the dialogue by comparing Texas's current redistricting efforts to those of states like Massachusetts, California, and New York, highlighting the discrepancies in representation despite favorable vote percentages for Democrats in these states.
Paxton argues that while Democratic-led states excel in gerrymandering to marginalize opposition, Texas is striving to achieve fairer representation in line with its population growth and demographic shifts.
Lisa Booth underscores the severity of gerrymandering by presenting data:
The discussion shifts to the recent political maneuvering by Democrats in Texas, who fled the state to break quorum and obstruct GOP-led redistricting maps. This tactic has been employed thrice, with the latest instance involving 51 out of 62 House Democrats leaving Texas.
Paxton criticizes this strategy, highlighting its unprecedented nature and the hypocrisy of Democrats who themselves engage in gerrymandering in other states.
A significant portion of the conversation addresses the influence of immigration on Texas's demographics and, consequently, on redistricting.
He attributes shifts in voter demographics and representation to the Biden administration's immigration policies, which he claims have led to increased illegal immigration, higher crime rates, and economic strains.
Lisa Booth adds that policymakers may be using immigration strategically to influence redistricting outcomes, suggesting that the influx of migrants could alter electoral college votes and congressional seat allocations.
The conversation explores potential legal remedies to counteract Democrats' absence from the Texas legislature. Paxton outlines his office's strategies to compel absent members to return, including court interventions and potential arrests.
Paxton acknowledges that these actions are uncharted territory but emphasizes their necessity to ensure legislative functionality and fair representation.
Paxton expresses concerns about corruption within the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI, particularly regarding past and ongoing cases that he believes have been politically motivated against Republicans, including President Trump.
He advocates for rooting out corruption to ensure that justice is administered fairly, without partisan bias.
Towards the end of the episode, Lisa Booth brings attention to the recent devastating floods in Texas, acknowledging the loss of life and the state's response efforts.
Paxton commends the volunteerism and professionalism of first responders but stresses the ongoing need for federal and state assistance to rebuild affected communities.
The episode concludes with Lisa Booth thanking Ken Paxton for his insights and reiterating the critical nature of the issues discussed, especially in the context of recent natural disasters and ongoing political battles in Texas.
Redistricting Efforts: Texas is undergoing a mid-decade redistricting process to address population growth and ensure fair representation, contrasting with other states where partisan gerrymandering has marginalized minority parties.
Political Tactics: Democrats in Texas have employed quorum-breaking tactics to obstruct redistricting, a move Paxton criticizes as hypocritical given their gerrymandering in other states.
Immigration's Role: Immigration policies are framed as a strategic factor influencing demographic shifts and redistricting outcomes, with significant economic and social implications for Texas.
Legal Strategies: Paxton's office is exploring legal avenues to compel absent legislators to return, emphasizing the unprecedented nature of these actions.
Justice System Concerns: Allegations of corruption within the DOJ and FBI highlight ongoing partisan battles and the need for impartial justice administration.
State Resilience: The recent Texas floods underscore the importance of effective governance and bipartisan cooperation in disaster response and recovery efforts.
Ken Paxton: “Massachusetts doesn't have a single Republican congressman, not one. They gerrymander it so good that there's a Republican can't win up there.” ([04:11])
Ken Paxton: “Our state has grown more than any other state in the country. We've Added millions of people. And so the representation is out of balance.” ([05:17])
Ken Paxton: “This is the third time. So I was in the house in 2003. They left then. They did it in 2021. They left and then.” ([06:19])
Ken Paxton: “It is brilliant if you don't care about the consequences to America. You don't care about the law, first of all...” ([11:16])
Ken Paxton: “We're waiting that out and if they show up, good, that's what we hope for. If they don't, then we're gonna pursue some of these representatives in court and try to remove them.” ([20:29])
Ken Paxton: “I have information about corrupt people in, you know, Department of Justice and the FBI that I would love to have more access to to give them those names and then these people be fired.” ([24:09])
This episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show provides a thorough examination of the intricate and highly politicized process of redistricting in Texas. Through the insights of Attorney General Ken Paxton, listeners gain a nuanced understanding of the challenges and strategies involved in ensuring fair representation amidst political chaos. The discussion also touches upon broader themes of immigration, legal jurisdiction, and corruption within governmental institutions, painting a comprehensive picture of the current political landscape in Texas and its implications on a national scale.