Investigations
Texas Mafia: Schools and Corrupt Cronyism
“I think the whole system needs [to be] scrapped.”
Texas Mafia: Reviving and Rebranding Crony Corruption
“I think that this whole system has been built in a very anti-taxpayer manner.”
Tax-hiking Cartel: Oppressing Texans
“I can’t do a dang thing, and I’m being charged out the wazoo.”
Tax-hiking Cartel: Gatekeeping Property Tax Exemptions
“It’s a broken system that ends up harming the lower income folks the most.”
Investigations Archive
Reports Reveal Deeply Troubled Texas Military in Border Operation
On February 5, a soldier deployed to Operation Lone Star walked into an aid station seeking mental healthcare. The soldier said that for the last couple of days, he’d been staring down the barrel of his gun, contemplating suicide. Another report outlines how a female...
Decision Texas, Investigations, State
Abbott’s Operation Lone Star Created a Legal ‘Train Wreck’
“This is going to be a train wreck, I think, to say the least.” Judge Richard Evans, a Gov. Abbott-appointed board member to the Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC), uttered these prescient words during an October 1, 2021, emergency meeting—a meeting called after...
Decision Texas, Investigations, State
Texas Taxpayers Funding Alleged Sabotage of Operation Lone Star
Texas has been detaining illegal immigrants at an increased clip, but what happens after they are detained? A Texas Scorecard investigation of how illegal immigrants are being processed revealed an opaque self-dealing and self-sabotaging process. Since December, the...
Decision Texas, Investigations, State
Texas Military Problems Worsened Under Maj. Gen. Norris
Documentation obtained by Texas Scorecard shows problems—similar to the problems that surfaced during Operation Lone Star—were identified in Texas’ military during the 2017 Hurricane Harvey relief operation. Instead of those problems being fixed, they appear to have...
Decision Texas, Investigations, State
Recording Contradicts Spin of Operation Lone Star Problems
A recent Texas Military Department (TMD) press release countering reported issues plaguing Operation Lone Star (OLS) is being disputed by retired service members, as well as a recording of a meeting obtained by Texas Scorecard where multiple concerns (such as pay and...
Decision Texas, Investigations, State
Texas Military Commander: ‘8,000 Soldiers Are at Risk‘ From Vaccine Mandate
Internal recordings of recent town halls held within the Texas military show a high number of soldiers are at risk of being discharged due to federal vaccine mandates. A Texas military leader expressed little hope that the strategy Gov. Greg Abbott has chosen (relying...
Decision Texas, Investigations, State
File Shows Hundreds of Operation Lone Star Soldiers With Pay Issues
After stonewalling inquiries for two months, Gov. Greg Abbott said last week that he knew of only 84 pay issues for Texas soldiers. That same day, a source provided Texas Scorecard with a spreadsheet outlining 545 Texas soldiers with pay issues. This file raises...
Decision Texas, Investigations, State
Texas Military Department Contradicts Abbott; Admits Ongoing Pay Issues
A day after Texas Scorecard reported ongoing pay issues related to Operation Lone Star (OLS), the Texas Military Department (TMD) admitted, “there are still numerous pay issues.” This contradicts what Gov. Greg Abbott claimed days earlier when he said “all paycheck...
How Texas Government Failed to Pay Soldiers On Time
Texas soldiers are unnecessarily entangled in a train wreck of layered bureaucracies, political issues, staff turnover, and IT headaches. Issues in paying troops, identified last year, persist. As we previously reported, Operation Lone Star (OLS) is part of Gov. Greg...