Bexar County Commissioners to Fund DA Gonzales’ Legal Fight
In a significant move, the Bexar County Commissioners voted 4 to 1 (Republican Commissioner Grant Moody voted against) on Tuesday, April 9, to defend Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales against a proposed rule by Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton by providing financial support for an outside law firm. The Paxton rule, aimed at holding liberal district attorneys accountable and preventing them from administering justice according to their political views, has sparked anger and debate.
The rule requires district attorneys in Texas’ most populous counties to turn over the files for cases that meet specific criteria. That is because liberal, George Soros-funded D.A.s are in urban Democrat-dominated counties, and they have been dispensing “social justice,” releasing repeat offenders, and targeting police officers.
The Bexar County Commissioners, most of whom are Democrats, voted to spend taxpayers’ money to contract with an outside law firm to represent fellow Democrat Gonzales to challenge Paxton if the A.G.’s rule goes forward.
Gonzales has been fighting to avoid transparency in his office since a local T.V. news investigation uncovered his close relationship with a liberal, anti-police legal think tank called “The Wren Collective.” The investigation found Gonzales’s office had received guidance on prosecuting police officers and responding to criticism from the S.A. police chief.
Also, in November 2023, the T.V. news reported that D.A. Gonzales dismissed more than 6000 criminal cases in 3 months. How is Gonzales determining who to prosecute with a dismissal rate that high? https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2023/11/29/more-than-6000-criminal-cases-dismissed-by-das-office-in-3-months-county-report-shows/
Gonzales and the Commissioners claim that complying with Paxton’s rule will be costly to the taxpayer and burdensome to the D.A.’s office. However, how much will an outside law firm cost to defend the D.A., and how burdensome is it to his office when it dismisses thousands of cases each month?
Gonzales does not like oversight. He is quick to speak about holding law enforcement officers accountable, not so much himself. The citizens should be concerned about the many cases Gonzales has failed to prosecute, including many drug cases. They should also be worried about how he targets police officers while he is soft on repeat offenders who continue to commit crimes.
The Bexar County Commissioners’ defense of Gonzales is like when the City of San Antonio defended SAPD Chief William McManus for not turning some illegal aliens over to immigration law enforcement. The city leaders refused to cooperate with immigration officials and spent millions of city taxpayers’ dollars on a lost legal cause.
Whether abortion, immigration law enforcement, or punishing repeat offenders, San Antonio and Bexar County Democrat elected officials refuse to obey the law when it does not suit their political agenda. Taxpayers are defending Gonzales, who implements the law according to his liberal, social justice political beliefs.
The Bexar County Commissioners Court must not support Gonzales with taxpayers’ money, and Gonzales must be removed as Bexar County D.A. for being a liberal/leftist partisan.