Free Republic

Full Title: Texas lawmaker dropped a sealed envelope at the airport. It was filled with four bags of cocaine, police say. A stray envelope may end the political career of Texas state Rep. Poncho Nevárez. As the Democratic lawmaker, 47, was leaving an airport in Austin earlier this year, he dropped an envelope bearing his official letterhead, police said, citing surveillance video. Inside, investigators now say they found a revelation that would lead to an apology, a decision not to seek reelection — as of Thursday afternoon — and a warrant for his arrest: The sealed envelope, they said in...

The late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in the mid-2000s attempted to coordinate with Colombian guerrillas to flood the United States with cocaine, according to federal prosecutors' documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal. According to the documents, former Venezuelan Supreme Court Magistrate Eladio Aponte took part in a meeting where Chávez in 2005 convened his closest advisers to draw up plans to ship cocaine to the United States with the help of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). SNIP “During the meeting, Chávez urged the group, in substance and in part, to promote his policy objectives, including to combat...

A shoving match and war of words nearly turned into a fistfight on the Texas House floor Monday, the final day of a bitterly contentious 140-day legislative session. "This session has been very, very difficult," said Rep. Celia Israel, D-Austin. "There are enough of us here who remember a time in Texas when respect and decorum ruled the day." Those rules flew out the House door when a group of protesters crashed the chamber's gallery Monday, chanting opposition to the so-called sanctuary cities ban. Legislators approved a bill this year that would force local governments to enforce federal immigration laws,...

Two of at least four levels of Sanctuary City Proponents Disrupting Texas Legislature A Texas legislature called Immigration and Customs Enforcement on disruptors at the Texas Legislature who claimed to be illegal immigrants. When he told other legislators of his action, a scuffle broke out on the floor.  This video shows the level of disruption that occurred before the scuffle. The "protest" was against a bill that had been signed into law days before. Link to video There are conflicting versions of events. Rinaldi, the Republican who Called ICE, said he was assaulted and threatened by Romero and other...

(Pictured: Texas State Representatives Panco Nevarez (Left) and Matt Rinaldi (Right) Came To Blows On The House Floor Over Illegal Immigration)We’ve repeatedly warned that the division festering among the Left and Right could soon lead to violence across America and the real possibility of a civil war. Earlier this year we reported that Anti-Fascist groups were beginning to arm themselves for physical violence after taking a beat down in Berkeley.And while attacks have thus far been limited to protesters clashing on college campuses and speaking venues for Republicans, things have now taken a drastic turn.Hours ago, as supporters of...

State Rep. Poncho Nevárez, D-Eagle Pass, has bonded out of jail after he was caught on surveillance footage in early September dropping a white envelope with cocaine inside. The arrest warrant signed by a Travis County magistrate was issued Thursday. It states Nevárez faces a charge of Possession of Substance in Penalty Group 1, which is a third-degree felony and punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Bond amount was set at $10,000. Nevárez confirmed over text he turned himself in Thursday night in Maverick County. According to an affidavit for a search warrant to collect Nevárez’s DNA, filed...

A stray envelope may end the political career of Texas state Rep Pancho Navarez

Texas Democratic state representative Alfonso "Poncho" Nevárez was caught on video surveillance dropping an envelope containing cocaine at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The Texas Department of Public Safety filed an affidavit on Oct. 29 detailing surveillance footage that revealed Nevárez "dropping a white paper object" as he walked out of the airport on Sept. 6. Two Texas Department of Transportation employees found the white envelope, prompting an investigation. Inside the sealed envelope were four "small clear plastic baggies" containing cocaine. Nevárez, who is chairman of the state house Homeland Security & Public Safety Committee, told the Texas Tribune on Thursday "the...

Full title: Ethics Committee releases messages showing Tlaib asking campaign for personal money, as ethics probes announced The House Ethics Committee on Thursday released a trove of striking internal campaign communications sent in 2018 by Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib , in which Tlaib urgently requests money from her congressional campaign to defray personal expenses. The document dump was related to the committee's ongoing ethics probe into Tlaib, which the panel said on Thursday would be "expanded" based on a referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). Additionally, the Ethics Committee acknowledged for the first time on Thursday an...