U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul briefly detained after appearing intoxicated at airport
A nervous flier, the House Foreign Affairs chief said he made a “poor decision” to mix Ambien and alcohol before his flight home to Texas on Nov. 4. Full Story
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Kayla Guo covers state politics and government. Before joining the Tribune, she covered Congress for The New York Times as a reporting fellow based in Washington, D.C. Kayla has also covered transportation policy for Politico and local news for The Raleigh News & Observer, and she was a part-time digital producer for The Boston Globe. She graduated from Brown University, where she studied public policy and served as editor-in-chief and president of the independent student newspaper. She was born and raised on Long Island, New York. She is based in Austin.
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![U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, speaks to reporters outside a House Republican Caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Oct. 12, 2023.]()
Credit: Julia Nikhinson for The Texas Tribune -
Trump taps former Texas congressman John Ratcliffe to lead CIA
Ratcliffe represented Texas’ 4th Congressional District until Trump picked him to serve as director of national intelligence in 2020. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Heath, testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee nomination hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. on May 5, 2020.]()
Credit: Gabriella Demczuk/Pool via REUTERS -
How zebra mussels and a Lake Texoma pump station spurred Texas to redraw its border with Oklahoma
The two states agreed to a land swap to ensure that a Dallas-area water district’s pump station lies wholly within Texas. Neither state gained in size from the small change. Full Story
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![A raw water pump station at Lake Texoma on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013. The station is bisected by the state line between Texas and Oklahoma, complicating the transportation of water to its intended destination in Texas.]()
Credit: Laura Buckman for The Texas Tribune -
Republican sweep in Texas also extended to state’s appellate courts
Republican judges won in 25 out of 26 contested races throughout the state in a show of the party’s broader strength up and down Tuesday’s ballot. Full Story
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Election Day updates: South Texas continues dramatic shift toward Donald Trump, GOP
Texas might not be a swing state, but many of its races will have major consequences to the national political landscape and on the lives of everyday Texans. Full Story
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![Voters wait in line at the Houston Community College Southeast voting location in Houston on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
Texas withdraws request to block U.S. Justice Department from monitoring state’s elections
The federal agency agreed their monitors would remain outside polling locations and wouldn’t interfere with voting. Full Story
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![Voters check in to vote at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center in Houston, Tuesday Nov. 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
There are warring depictions of Robert Roberson’s murder case. Here’s what to know.
Even before the Texas man’s death sentence became a political lightning rod, law enforcement and medical experts had differing opinions on the evidence that convicted him. Full Story
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![Robert Roberson photographed through plexiglass at TDCJ Polunsky Unit in Livingston on Dec. 19, 2023. Texas death row prisoners are housed in Livingston but executed at the state prison in Huntsville, about 43 miles away.]()
Credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman for The Innocence Project -
Ken Paxton calls on Rep. Jeff Leach to resign over texts to judge in Robert Roberson case
The AG also said he’d make a criminal referral against the lawmaker, who apologized for texting a Court of Criminal Appeals judge about a new trial for the death row inmate. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the Texas GOP Convention Thursday, May 23, 2024 in San Antonio.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
State Rep. Jeff Leach asked Texas judge to consider a new Robert Roberson trial in apparent conduct violation
Leach, one of the driving forces behind the effort to stop Roberson’s execution, later apologized to the judge, who told the lawmaker there were still pending matters before the court. Full Story
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![From left: State Reps. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, and Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, listen to a testimony during a Criminal Jurisprudence hearing on death row inmate Robert Roberson on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 in Austin.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
Ken Paxton and Texas House members accuse each other of mischaracterizing Robert Roberson’s case
After the attorney general insisted on the death row inmate’s guilt in a graphic press release, four lawmakers issued a point-by-point rebuttal. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the Texas GOP Convention Thursday, May 23, 2024 in San Antonio.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune
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