Always happy to castigate the Texas House, Patrick breaks form to criticize the governor as misinformed and unsympathetic toward homeowners.
Zach Despart
Zach Despart is an enterprise and investigative reporter focusing on state government. His work on a team investigating the flawed police response to the Uvalde school shooting was awarded the 2024 Collier Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting. He led the Tribune’s effort to become the first news organization to map the fragmented 50-mile Texas border wall, a project that also found the state struggled with holdout landowners along the route. After it was published, the Legislature stopped funding the wall. He previously covered Harris County for the Houston Chronicle, where he reported on corruption, elections, disaster preparedness and the region’s recovery from Hurricane Harvey. His investigation on how Texas diverted Harvey aid away from areas most at risk for storms sparked a federal investigation. An upstate New York native, he received his bachelor’s degree in political science and film from the University of Vermont.
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Ken Paxton Impeachment
Abbott taps John Scott, former Texas secretary of state, as interim attorney general
Scott, a former deputy attorney general, will run the agency because Ken Paxton has been suspended from office until his impeachment trial before the Texas Senate.
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Ken Paxton Impeachment
Texas AG Ken Paxton impeached, suspended from duties; will face Senate trial
The House voted 121-23 to suspend the attorney general and refer him to the Senate for trial on charges of bribery, abuse of office and obstruction. It was the first such impeachment since 1975.
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Ken Paxton Impeachment
Attorney General Ken Paxton blasts pending impeachment vote, calls for protests
Paxton said House members were showing “contempt for the electoral process” and accused them of sabotaging his work challenging the Biden administration.
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Ken Paxton Impeachment
Texas House committee issues 20 articles of impeachment against Attorney General Ken Paxton
The attorney general, reelected last year by voters who shrugged off his scandals, is accused of a yearslong pattern of alleged misconduct and lawbreaking. The full House is expected to consider the articles soon.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas power struggle: How the nation’s top wind power state turned against renewable energy.
State lawmakers have pushed bills to support fossil fuel-burning power plants and restrict renewable energy development this legislative session.
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Ken Paxton Impeachment
Investigators detail years of alleged misconduct by Texas AG Ken Paxton in stunning House committee hearing
Many allegations against Paxton were already known, but the airing of them revealed the scope of the investigation by the committee, which has the power to recommend censure or impeachment.
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Politics
Greg Abbott asked other governors for help patrolling the Texas-Mexico border. Ron DeSantis answered the call.
Although border encounters have fallen since Title 42 ended Thursday, Texas’ top Republican asks for “all available law enforcement personnel and resources.”
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Allen Mall Shooting
The Allen mall shooter used an AR-15-style rifle. Read our March story on the gun’s use in mass shootings.
The gun was also used in the Uvalde shooting, where law enforcement records show police were afraid to confront the gunman because of the weapon’s firepower.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas House committee recommends expelling Rep. Bryan Slaton
The House General Investigating Committee found that Slaton, a Republican from Royse City, engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with a subordinate. The Texas Tribune previously reported on an allegation that he had sex with one of his staff, a woman under 21, and gave her alcohol.