Far-Right GOP Representative joins Texas A.G. Race

Far-right Freedom Caucus member Chip Roy—whom President Donald Trump once described as “weak and ineffective”—is now running for Texas Attorney General.

Roy adds his name to a large group of conservatives looking to replace current Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is now running for Senate. Roy and Paxton were close, with Roy even working as assistant attorney general for Paxton in 2014.

That all changed when Roy called on Paxton to resign in 2020 on allegations of bribery and abuse of office.

Roy has also been a constant agitator within the GOP, as he most recently opposed Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” on fiscal grounds. But Roy chose to leave the past conflict out of his campaign announcement ad.

“Today, we draw a line in the sand. Texans’ next attorney general must have a proven record of fighting to preserve, protect, and defend our legacy—an attorney general unafraid to fight, unafraid to win,” Roy said. “That’s why I fought to secure our border and help President Trump deliver results.”

Roy will be running against state Senators Mayes Middleton and Joan Huffman, and former Paxton aide Aaron Reitz.

California’s Supreme Court has struck down the state GOP’s attempt to delay Governor Gavin Newsom’s redistricting plan, clearing the runway for the measure to reach the November referendum vote. 

The GOP lawmakers who filed the challenge argued that Newsom had moved forward too quickly, and violated the state’s independent redistricting commission. 

On Wednesday, the justices disagreed.

Newsom’s plan, which is contingent upon Texas passing its initial redistricting effort, has some California Republicans incensed.

“We have a governor, we have political insiders, we have legislators who are breaking California’s Constitution by drawing congressional maps behind closed doors, with no transparency,” California state Senator Suzette Martinez Valladares told CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Wednesday. 

“The new maps that Democrats in your state want to pass … they include a trigger, that they would only go into effect if Texas’s redistricted maps go into effect.… Do you hold Texas Republicans at all responsible for what you’re facing in your state?” Keilar asked. 

“Well, that actually—Governor Newsom said that this would only happen if Texas redrew their maps, however that’s not what the bill language they presented said,” Vallardares said. “It says if any state redraws their maps, that this would go into an effect.” 

“OK. But that’s the effect of this. There is a trigger. This isn’t happening in a vacuum. There’s a contingency. And in this case, it is Texas. So let’s just be clear. If it says other states, well, it’s Texas,” Keilar said. “So do you have any criticism from members of your own party in Texas?” 

Vallardares avoided the question, instead insisting that what Newsom was doing was wholly illegal.

“If you can’t criticize Republicans in Texas for their approach, which is so different from the one that you’re advocating for in California, how should voters see California Republicans … opposed to a move like this only when it doesn’t favor them?” the CNN reporter asked.

“Listen, I was elected, and the 120 legislators that were elected this past November in California, to uphold the California Constitution. This isn’t a Republican issue. This isn’t a Democrat issue. This is an issue of political elitists in California silencing and taking the power away from California voters,” Valladares said, once again avoiding Keilar’s question. 

California’s redistricting referendum is set for November 4.  

A federal judge ruled Thursday that Alina Habba has been illegally serving as U.S. attorney for New Jersey and blocked her from prosecuting two criminal defendants who’d challenged her appointment.

“Faced with the question of whether Ms. Habba is lawfully performing the functions and duties of the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, I conclude that she is not,” wrote U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann in a 77-page court filing. Brann wrote that Habba has been acting unlawfully as the U.S. attorney for New Jersey since July 1.

Last month, New Jersey federal judges decided to fire Habba, refusing to vote to extend her 120-day appointment as U.S. attorney for New Jersey, but the Trump administration found a loophole to keep its thoughtless foot soldier in place without Senate confirmation. After it fired the first assistant U.S. attorney who was approved to replace her, and then appointed Habba to that position, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer found herself as acting U.S. attorney once again.

Brann’s decision was a response to a motion from defendants Julien Giraud Jr., Julien Giraud III, and Ceasar Humberto Pina.

The Girauds were indicted on three counts, including drug and firearm charges, in November, and Pina was indicted in a separate case in July on six counts, including charges for wire fraud, bribery, and money laundering. The Girauds and Pina had submitted motions arguing that Habba’s appointment was illegal.

The judge granted the Girauds’ motion to disqualify Habba from participating in their prosecution, and Pina won his plea, in part. Brann wrote that because Habba had signed Pina’s indictment on July 7, the indictment was “presumptively defective”—though the indictment would not be dismissed.

“The Court will stay this decision and its effects pending the resolution of any appellate Proceedings,” Brann concluded, meaning that Habba would stay in her position while the government appealed the decision. The Department of Justice is expected to appeal the ruling in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Washington is just the beginning of the Trump administration’s broader plan to occupy American cities.

Vice President JD Vance casually revealed Thursday that the White House “hopes” that cities across the country will follow the capital’s lead—that is to say, hand over the reins of their local law enforcement and welcome the National Guard into their city limits.

“Do you see the administration putting soldiers in the city of Atlanta?” asked a reporter from WABE radio in Atlanta.

“Well look, what we’ve done is we have focused on Washington, D.C., because it’s a federal city under our jurisdiction,” Vance said. “But we certainly hope that whether it’s Atlanta or anywhere else, people are going to look around and say, ‘We don’t have to live like this.’”

The vice president then framed the nation’s capital as a city overrun by violent crime, projecting an image of America in which authorities would effectively be allowed to snatch “bad guys” off the streets without protest. In actuality, many of the undocumented targets of the Trump administration have not been criminals, and have been forced into deportation proceedings without systemic consideration of their constitutional rights.

On Monday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the administration had made nearly 400 arrests in Washington since the beginning of the operation. At least 160 of those arrests were undocumented immigrants, reported ABC News.

“We hope the people see what we’re doing in Washington, D.C., and follow our example all across the country,” Vance added.

The Ohio-born politico then boasted about Washington’s supposedly new low crime rate, disregarding the fact that violent crime in the nation’s capital has been on a downward trend since 2024. Confusingly, FBI Director Kash Patel used the accurate data to pat the Trump administration on the back during a press conference last week, claiming that the “plummeting” homicide numbers were thanks to the president’s policies.

Trump deployed 800 National Guard members to Washington and federalized the capital’s police department last week to combat what he described as a crime-riddled hellscape. To justify the government infringement, the president pointed to rising crime rates, immigrant populations, and homelessness—though the figures he used were from 2023, before violent crime plummeted across the country.

Donald Trump’s authoritarian takeover is looking more and more like a senseless stunt made for television.

While speaking to conservative radio host Todd Starnes Thursday, Trump claimed that he planned to do a ride-along with law enforcement in Washington, D.C., as they carried out his crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital.

“I’m going to be going out tonight, I think, with the police and with the military, of course. So we’re going to do a job,” Trump said. “The National Guard is great. They’ve done a fantastic job.”

The White House said Thursday that Trump was expected to travel by motorcade to the district’s neighborhoods, where he would meet with police officers and National Guard troops play-acting at the Herculean task of bringing crime down in a city where it’s already dropping.

Last week, Trump invoked Section 740 of the D.C. Home Rule Act of 1973 to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department, and deployed scores of federal forces and National Guardsmen to the city, giving them license to do “whatever the hell they want.” Six Republican-led states are sending even more troops—even though their states’ crime rates aren’t much better.

So far, it seems the results of Trump’s crackdown have been almost laughable—unless you count Fox News Bret Baier being pulled over by police as a success.

And the Trump administration’s attempts to sell its fascist takeover have been similarly lame. Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller were practically booed out of Washington’s Union Station Wednesday while visiting with National Guardsmen who were stationed there. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on shiny new Trump-ified vehicles that they showcased in a weird recruitment video. And the White House posted a dramatic video documenting the arrest of a man who threw a sandwich at a federal officer. This is what our tax dollars are going toward now—making good TV.

While Trump’s takeover may be massive, there is speculation from law enforcement and residents alike that it won’t make anyone safer. But in Trump’s world, it only matters how something looks, not how it actually is. This ride-along, if it does happen, would surely be no exception.

This story has been updated.