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Attorney General's Office

The latest Attorney General's Office news from The Texas Tribune.

  • TribBlog: Inflexible

    By Kate Galbraith

    The legal wrangling between Texas and the federal government over the state's air-pollution permitting system for big industrial plants is intensifying, as Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed a brief in a federal court yesterday defending the system. Full Story 

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  • John Nielsen-Gammon: The TT Interview

    By Kate Galbraith

    The Texas state climatologist on the reasons for rising temperatures, why international science on climate change is fundamentally sound (no matter what state officials say), what he thinks of our fight with the EPA and how long the drought in Central Texas is likely to continue. Full Story 

    John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas's state climatologist
    Credit: Illustration by Jeff Kramer/Todd Wiseman

  • TribBlog: Warren Jeffs On Texas Soil

    By Emily Ramshaw

    Warren Jeffs has made it to Texas. The embattled leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — the polygamous Mormon breakaway sect whose Eldorado ranch was raided by child welfare officials in 2008 — will stand trial in San Angelo for allegedly sexually assaulting a child. Full Story 

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    Credit: Texas Attorney General's Office

  • TribBlog: AG to TWIA: Make Numbers Public

    By Elise Hu

    The Texas attorney general's office is weighing in on the back-and-forth between the Texas Windstorm Insurance Agency and Democratic attorney Steve Mostyn, who has been fighting in the courts to keep Hurricane Ike settlement details private. Full Story 

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  • Perry By 10 in New UT/TT Poll

    By Ross Ramsey

    Republican Gov. Rick Perry leads his Democratic challenger, Bill White by 10 points — 50 percent to 40 percent — in the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Libertarian Kathie Glass has the support of 8 percent of respondents; Deb Shafto of the Green Party gets 2 percent. In the last UT/TT poll, conducted in early September, Perry led by 6 points, 39 percent to 33 percent. In a red state in a red year, GOP incumbents in other statewide races are beating their Democratic opponents by between 13 points and 20 points, the new poll found. Full Story 

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  • Community Property

    By Reeve Hamilton

    The Texas Association of Community Colleges is accusing the University of Texas of siphoning money from programs that support community colleges into UT’s College of Education. Full Story 

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    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • It's Getting Hot in Here

    By Kate Galbraith

    Come January, the Environmental Protection Agency will begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions around the country for the first time — but not if Texas can help it. Attorney General Greg Abbott last week lodged legal challenges in a federal court against EPA actions on multiple fronts, including a reiteration of the state's long-standing argument against the agency's scientific foundation for determining the dangers of greenhouse gas pollution. Full Story 

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    Credit: Graphic by Jacob Villanueva

  • Witch Hunters?

    By Morgan Smith

    Talking point No. 1 for an elected official facing an ethics investigation in Texas: Blame the politicization of the Public Integrity Unit, which is funded by the Legislature but operates out of the district attorney's office in heavily Democratic Travis County. Full Story 

    Former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, and former Travis County D.A. Ronnie Earle.

  • Greg Abbott vs. Google

    By Nathan Bernier, KUT News

    The Texas Attorney General is investigating suspicions that the Internet giant is gaming search results to harm competitors. Nathan Bernier of KUT News reports. Full Story 

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    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • A Conversation With Greg Abbott

    By Evan Smith

    For the 11th event in our TribLive series, I interviewed the attorney general of Texas on the politics and constitutionality of gay marriage, why he's suing the feds over health care and why he filed a brief in support of the Arizona immigration law. Full Story 

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  • The Other BP Catastrophe

    By Morgan Smith

    BP's problem-plagued Texas City refinery — where a 2005 explosion killed 15 and injured 170 — now faces two civil lawsuits stemming from its release this spring of more than 500,000 pounds of cancer-causing pollutants over 40 days. One suit seeks $10 billion on behalf of 2,000 exposed workers; the other, filed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, seeks more than $1 million in fines. Both aim to punish the company for one of the largest chemical emissions events the state has ever seen. Full Story 

    The BP refinery in Texas City
    Credit: Callie Richmond

  • Banned Parenthood?

    By Emily Ramshaw

    State Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, wants Planned Parenthood's clinics out of the state’s Women’s Health Program, which provides family planning services — but not abortions — to impoverished Medicaid patients. He says a 2005 law should exclude them already. But for years, the state’s Health and Human Services Commission has allowed those clinics to participate, for fear that barring them might be unconstitutional. Deuell has asked Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to clear up the matter, hoping it will free up the agency to push Planned Parenthood out. Full Story 

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    Credit: Jacob Villanueva