Check out a live video recording of The Ticket, our 2016 presidential politics podcast, with the Tribune’s Jay Root, KUT 90.5’s Ben Philpott and special guest Jennifer Rubin, writer for the Washington Post’s Right Turn blog.
Jay Root
Jay Root is an award-winning journalist who reported for the Tribune from 2011 to 2020. He covered the dramatic collapse of Gov. Rick Perry’s 2012 presidential campaign and went on to write an ebook about it called “Oops! A Diary from the 2012 Campaign Trail.” Root also broke the story that put the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, on the path toward criminal indictment, co-wrote an exposé that brought an end to privately funded prosecutions in Travis County, and authored a series of watchdog articles that prompted a wave of firings and resignations at two major state agencies.
In 2017, Root co-directed “Beyond The Wall,” a film exploring border politics in the age of Trump, which won a national Edward R. Murrow award for best news documentary. Root’s latest film, “Border Hustle,” was released in early 2019 and reveals how desperate migrants have become cash cows on both sides of the border.
Previously, for a dozen years, Root was Austin bureau chief of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he chronicled the rise of then-Gov. George W. Bush, wrote about cartel violence in Mexico and covered Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. During a three-year stint at the Associated Press, Root was twice named AP Staff Reporter of the Year for his watchdog reporting, including a story that sparked felony charges against a sitting state representative.
Posted inState Government
District Attorney Hopeful Criticizes Privately Funded Prosecutions
Gary Cobb, a candidate for Travis County district attorney, vowed to seek changes to the unusual deal allowing a giant insurance company to pay for fraud prosecutions, as highlighted in a series of reports by The Texas Tribune and Austin American-Statesman.
Posted inState Government
Officials Want Review of Privately Funded Prosecutions
Officials in Travis County are calling for a review of privately funded prosecutions in Austin after a public-private partnership between the DA’s office and an insurance company was reported by The Texas Tribune and the Austin American-Statesman.
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice, State Government
Revisit our Paid to Prosecute Project
Revisit our Paid to Prosecute project, a six-month Texas Tribune/Austin American-Statesman investigation that revealed a chummy and unusual financial arrangement between Texas Mutual Insurance and the Travis County DA’s office.
Posted inState Government
Analysis: A New, Dimmer Era For Rick Perry
Any longtime Perry watcher worth his salt knows the handsome fly boy from Paint Creek, Texas will do everything in his power to stay relevant in state and national politics, even after a second embarrassing withdrawal from presidential politics.
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice, State Government
Decades After Reforms, Exclusive Deal Lingers
An exclusive funding deal between Texas Mutual and the Travis County DA was forged amid crisis, one that has long-since passed. While the company used to be subject to government audits and transparency laws, lobbyists have worked to lift such rules.
Posted in
Politics
The Ticket: Will Joe Biden Join the 2016 Race?
This week on The Ticket: Jay Root and Ben Philpott talk with ABC News Digital Reporter Arlette Saenz about the growing speculation that Vice President Joe Biden will join the 2016 Presidential race.
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice, State Government
Chief Fraud Lawyer Has an Independent Streak — and a Public Personality
From almost the very beginning, the controversial relationship between a giant Texas insurance company and the Travis County DA’s office has been overseen by a fiery prosecutor with a tendency to share her liberal politics and social views on social media.
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice, State Government
Private Insurer Pays Government Lawyers to Pursue Fraud Charges
A six-month Texas Tribune/Austin American-Statesman investigation into a chummy and unusual financial arrangement between Texas Mutual Insurance and the Travis County DA’s office reveals a series of troubling issues.
Posted in
The Ticket
The Ticket: Ted Cruz Returns to Texas
This week on The Ticket: Jay Root and Ben Philpott discuss one of the only GOP presidential candidates who’s survived the Summer of Trump: Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, and they talk to Texas activist JoAnn Fleming about Cruz’s rise to prominence on the national stage.
