A prominent Texas lawmaker announced last week he is no longer seeking re-election after law enforcement officials caught him on surveillance footage dropping an envelope with official state letterhead stuffed with cocaine as he was leaving an Austin airport.
Lawmakers in both parties have praised the lawmaker as he heads for the exit after his narcotic-fueled scandal, since revealed by watchdog organization Direct Action Texas.
On September 6 a DPS affidavit affirmed two Texas Department of Transportation employees found an envelope filled with four plastic baggies of cocaine bearing the official state letterhead of Democrat State Rep. Poncho Nevarez (Eagle Pass) lying on the ground inside an area of Austin Bergstrom International Airport frequently used by state officials.
Though the crime was not public knowledge until mid-November, sources close to the Texas Capitol say the investigation into Nevarez was not a well-guarded secret and some lawmakers had knowledge of the affair.
On November 6, Nevarez announced he would be deleting his Facebook page, blaming Mark Zuckerburg. Two days later, on November 8, Nevarez announced he would not seek re-election to the Texas Legislature.
That announcement elicited mournful goodbyes by lawmakers in both parties who sidestepped the reasoning of his departure to lavish praise on their outgoing colleague.
“We disagree on a whole heck of a lot. But we agree on a whole heck of a lot more. Poncho Nevarez was just my classmate in 2013. Today he is one of my best friends in the #txlege,” wrote Plano Republican Jeff Leach. “An honor to serve with you Chairman. See you down the road.”
One has to wonder, what is the “heck of a lot” proclaimed conservative Republican Jeff Leach agrees with liberal Democrat Poncho Nevarez on?
“Poncho Nevarez is one of my dearest #txlege friends. I love this guy & his beautiful family. Sad to see him go, but completely understand & respect his reasons. I will be forever grateful that the #txlege brought us together & allowed me to make a lifelong friend,” wrote State Rep. Chris Paddie, a Republican lawmaker from East Texas.
Apparently being caught with cocaine is a “respectable” position.
“I’m going to seriously miss Poncho Nevarez on the House floor. To say ‘He did it his way’ is an understatement. One of a kind,” penned Republican State Rep. Dade Phelan of Beaumont.
Are Republican voters in Southeast Texas going to miss a liberal Democrat who dropped an envelope bearing his official office’s stationery in a taxpayer-funded facility?
“As Chairman of the Texas House Homeland Security & Public Safety Committee, Poncho Nevarez was instrumental in helping us pass the historic Lavina Masters Act to tackle the rape kit backlog in Texas. It has been an honor to serve with you. Abrazos from Dallas!” wrote Democrat State Rep. Victoria Neave, who had her own encounter with law enforcement two years ago when she was caught having crashed her car into a tree in East Dallas while driving intoxicated.
But didn’t the cocaine Nevarez was carrying likely come from, support, and endorse the operations of narco-terrorist drug cartels in Mexico? The same ones who are convicted of the sexual assault, rape, and murder of women and children along our southern border in perpetuity?
While Poncho’s cocaine scandal was not public knowledge until November 13th, some lawmakers reportedly knew exactly why Poncho was announcing his retirement from the Texas Legislature. Moreover, even if these particular lawmakers didn’t, his behavior, conduct, and voting record were never worthy of such glowing endorsements.
If Nevarez was arrogant enough to be transporting cocaine in a taxpayer-funded envelope at a taxpayer-funded facility, when else was he engaging in such behavior? And why have other lawmakers been helping conceal it?
