Louis DeJoy's tenure as postmaster general has been controversial for all sorts of reasons, but the Washington Post reports today that the Republican's troubles are just getting started.

The FBI is investigating Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in connection with campaign fundraising activity involving his former business, according to people familiar with the matter and a spokesman for DeJoy. FBI agents in recent weeks interviewed current and former employees of DeJoy and the business, asking questions about political contributions and company activities, these people said. Prosecutors also issued a subpoena to DeJoy himself for information, one of the people said.

A spokesperson for the postmaster general denied that DeJoy had broken any laws, but confirmed the existence of the Justice Department's investigation.....

As we discussed at the time, what the article described is generally known as a "straw-donor scheme." The newspaper spoke to several employees from DeJoy's former business, New Breed Logistics, who said they were urged to make campaign contributions, and those who wrote checks were later rewarded with bonus payments that, as the Post reported, were used to "help defray the cost of their contributions."

The government of Texas is seemingly at war with trans children. In 2021, the Texas Legislature saw more than 40 proposed bills that pushed anti-trans rhetoric, the most in the country. This included a bill signed into law by Governor Abbott that restricted trans youth from participating in school sports. The latest attack on trans children came in February, right before early voting started in the Republican primaries on March 1.

In February 2022, Governor Greg Abbott penned a letter instructing Texas state agencies to begin investigating parents who allow their children to receive gender-affirming care for charges of child abuse. The governor also announced that “doctors, nurses, and teachers” as well as “members of the general public” would be required to report children who “may be subject to such abuse.” This directive essentially turns the Texas public into a vigilante force against trans children and their families, creating unsafe spaces for a group that already faces significant threat from their communities and peers.

How vile does one have to be to harm children? It is genuinely evil to cause parents to fear losing their child purely because they desire necessary medical treatment for their kid, and even more so to force children to fear being taken away from their parents. It is simply nauseating to watch an elected official, who has been tasked with the protection of the people of this state, attack trans youth, one of Texas’s most vulnerable groups.

Despite claims of “protecting our children,” it is clear that this new directive would do the exact opposite. In 2021, the Trevor Project reported that more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. In fact, according to the CDC, the rate of suicide attempt for transgender youth is around three times higher than the rate among cisgender youth. Access to gender-affirming care, such as the pubertal suppression treatment that Abbott’s directive is labeling child abuse, has been proven to significantly lower the odds of suicidal ideation.

The government of Texas is seemingly at war with trans children. In 2021, the Texas Legislature saw more than 40 proposed bills that pushed anti-trans rhetoric, the most in the country. This included a bill signed into law by Governor Abbott that restricted trans youth from participating in school sports. The latest attack on trans children came in February, right before early voting started in the Republican primaries on March 1.

In February 2022, Governor Greg Abbott penned a letter instructing Texas state agencies to begin investigating parents who allow their children to receive gender-affirming care for charges of child abuse. The governor also announced that “doctors, nurses, and teachers” as well as “members of the general public” would be required to report children who “may be subject to such abuse.” This directive essentially turns the Texas public into a vigilante force against trans children and their families, creating unsafe spaces for a group that already faces significant threat from their communities and peers.

How vile does one have to be to harm children? It is genuinely evil to cause parents to fear losing their child purely because they desire necessary medical treatment for their kid, and even more so to force children to fear being taken away from their parents. It is simply nauseating to watch an elected official, who has been tasked with the protection of the people of this state, attack trans youth, one of Texas’s most vulnerable groups.

Despite claims of “protecting our children,” it is clear that this new directive would do the exact opposite. In 2021, the Trevor Project reported that more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. In fact, according to the CDC, the rate of suicide attempt for transgender youth is around three times higher than the rate among cisgender youth. Access to gender-affirming care, such as the pubertal suppression treatment that Abbott’s directive is labeling child abuse, has been proven to significantly lower the odds of suicidal ideation.

Citing the suspension of Rudy Giuliani's law license by the state of New York, an activist organization seeks to have Sen. Ted Cruz disbarred over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

"The complaint against Mr. Cruz, filed by a group called the 65 Project, focuses on baseless assertions by Mr. Cruz about widespread voting fraud in the weeks between Election Day in 2020 and Jan. 6, 2021, as well as his participation in lawsuits protesting the results in Pennsylvania," The New York Times reported Wednesday.

"The 65 Project’s advisers include the Hillary Clinton ally David Brock and Paul Rosenzweig, a conservative and former Republican who worked on the Ken Starr special prosecution team investigating the Clintons. The 65 Project was formed to hold accountable lawyers involved in a series of lawsuits seeking to undermine President Biden’s victory in 2020."

The complaint argued, "just as Mr. Giuliani has been disciplined for his conduct, so should Mr. Cruz."

Citing the suspension of Rudy Giuliani's law license by the state of New York, an activist organization seeks to have Sen. Ted Cruz disbarred over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

"The complaint against Mr. Cruz, filed by a group called the 65 Project, focuses on baseless assertions by Mr. Cruz about widespread voting fraud in the weeks between Election Day in 2020 and Jan. 6, 2021, as well as his participation in lawsuits protesting the results in Pennsylvania," The New York Times reported Wednesday.

"The 65 Project’s advisers include the Hillary Clinton ally David Brock and Paul Rosenzweig, a conservative and former Republican who worked on the Ken Starr special prosecution team investigating the Clintons. The 65 Project was formed to hold accountable lawyers involved in a series of lawsuits seeking to undermine President Biden’s victory in 2020."

The complaint argued, "just as Mr. Giuliani has been disciplined for his conduct, so should Mr. Cruz."

Seven years after the momentous traffic stop that sparked Sandra Bland’s arrest, and ultimately, her death, Prairie View officials this week unveiled a historical marker honoring her life.

Bland, a 28-year-old Naperville, Ill. native, had recently moved to Texas to start a new job at Prairie View A&M University, her alma mater. She was pulled over in July 2015 for a minor traffic violation.

The stop grew heated after Department of Public Safety Trooper Brian Encinia asked Bland to put out a cigarette she was smoking. Video of the encounter captured him brandishing a stungun in her face and threatening “I will light you up.”

Bland died by suicide in jail several days later. After video of the traffic stop became public, it brought nationwide attention down on Waller County and the Texas Department of Public Safety. The scandal raised new questions about the value and safety of discretionary traffic stops.