Texas Governor Abbott Escalates Attack on Soros-Backed DAs and Talarico Over Crime and Bail Reform

Talarico’s campaign has refuted Abbott’s characterization, highlighting Talarico’s prior support for Abbott’s comprehensive bail reform measure passed last year and his votes for billions of dollars in funding for Texas law enforcement. “This baseless attack is a flat-out lie. James opposes defunding the police, has voted to deny bail for violent criminals, supports prosecuting violent felons, and has a proven track record of sending billions of dollars to support law enforcement,” Talarico’s campaign spokesperson JT Ellis said in a statement. As crime continues to dominate national headlines, Texas has not been spared, with Abbott attributing the issues to what he describes as soft-on-crime district attorneys who fail to hold offenders accountable. Abbott’s campaign pointed to the release of two murder suspects in Austin on reduced bonds after Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza’s office missed the 90-day deadline for securing indictments last year. Concurrently, Garza’s office has secured indictments against 21 police officers for alleged misconduct during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

Abbott’s office indicated that concerns surrounding district attorneys like Garza are the driving force behind its push to establish a Texas statewide prosecutor, a new entity designed to operate independently of the attorney general’s office and focus on prosecuting the state’s most serious crimes. This proposal to create a Texas statewide prosecutor would necessitate approval from the Texas Legislature, which would need to establish and fund the office through statute. Unlike some of Abbott’s other public safety initiatives, this measure would not require a constitutional amendment. An official from Abbott’s campaign team explained to Fox News Digital that the creation of this new office is essential because current state statutes do not grant the attorney general’s office general prosecutorial authority. Criminal prosecutions are typically handled by locally elected district and county attorneys, and the Attorney General can only intervene when authorized by statute, requested by local prosecutors, or otherwise permitted by law. Under the proposed plan, if a district attorney fails to pursue an indictment within 90 days, the statewide prosecutor would be empowered to intervene and assume the prosecution. Police departments would be obligated to submit reports involving certain serious crimes to both local district attorneys and the statewide prosecutor, allowing the office to track cases from their inception. Garza criticized Abbott’s broad criminal justice reform proposal as a “distraction from the governor’s litany of failures.” “Under his leadership, Texans are paying more for groceries, public schools are losing funding, and too many Texans lack access to healthcare and mental healthcare,” Garza stated. Abbott’s other two legislative requests—ending bail for illegal immigrants and making District Attorneys subject to impeachment—would require a statewide vote by Texans. Last month, Abbott directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to expand the Texas Repeat Offender Task Force from the Houston area to the Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin regions, asserting that the initiative would help target violent repeat offenders and enhance public safety. Since its launch in October, the task force has apprehended 728 repeat offenders, including 455 high-threat suspects, seized significant quantities of drugs and weapons, encountered 155 known gang members, and recovered 25 stolen vehicles. “The choice in this election is clear,” Abbott declared. “Republicans will protect communities and prosecute criminals, while Democrats stand with the very people who threaten public safety.”