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Gov. Greg Abbott issues executive order targeting Chinese government operatives in Texas

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Gov. Greg Abbott issues executive order targeting Chinese government operatives in Texas


Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order on Monday, directing the Texas Department of Public Safety to target and arrest people trying to execute influence operations on behalf of the Chinese government to return dissidents to China.

Abbott’s action is in response to “Operation Fox Hunt,” a Chinese government initiative that is intended to root out corruption in that country but in practice has also been used to intimidate Chinese citizens living abroad, harass Chinese pro-democracy activists and even forcibly repatriate dissidents and government officials in some cases. The U.S. justice department has successfully prosecuted individuals in connection to the Chinese initiative.

“The Chinese Communist Party has engaged in a worldwide harassment campaign against Chinese dissidents in attempts to forcibly return them to China,” Abbott said in a news release. “Texas will not tolerate the harassment or coercion of the more than 250,000 individuals of Chinese descent who legally call Texas home by the Chinese Communist Party or its heinous proxies.”

Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Conor Hagan, a spokesperson for the FBI office in Houston, said the agency has pushed a public campaign since January to stop the harassment, intimidation and assault of people in the United States by foreign governments. The FBI is looking for potential victims in the Houston area who have been harassed by agents of the Chinese government.

Hagan said the Chinese government has targeted its own citizens living within the United States as well as naturalized and U.S.-born citizens who have family overseas.

“Their actions violate U.S. law and our treasured American individual rights and freedoms,” Hagan wrote in an email.

The FBI office in Houston has set up a hotline for people who believe they are victims of these types of actions by the Chinese Communist Party: (713) 693-5000..

State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, who was born in China and immigrated to the United States applauded Abbott’s move Tuesday.

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“The ability to speak your mind and live freely are the core promises of the American Dream; and any who seek to take that away stand against Texas values,” Wu said.

Last year, Wu criticized Texas Republicans for pushing legislation that would ban citizens and foreign entities from countries including China from buying land in Texas. He urged Abbott to also support Chinese immigrants by opposing such legislation.

The Chinese government has set up “police service stations” across the world, according to Abbott’s executive order, and one such station was rumored to be in Houston.

“We will continue to do everything we can to protect Texans from the unlawful and repressive actions of the Chinese Communist Party,” Abbott said.

Abbott charged DPS with identifying and charging people suspected of crimes related to Operation Fox Hunt; work with local and federal authorities to assess incidents where foreign governments are harassing Texans; provide policy recommendations on how to counter these threats and set up a hotline to reported suspected acts of coercion related to “Operation Fox Hunt.”

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On Thursday, Abbott issued a second executive order aimed at hardening the systems of state agencies and public higher education institutions from being accessed by hostile foreign nations.

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This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, The Texas Tribune.



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Texas housewife was showing off new $150K Porsche when she drunkenly smashed into man on date, passenger says

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Texas housewife was showing off new 0K Porsche when she drunkenly smashed into man on date, passenger says


A joy-riding Houston housewife was showing off her new $150,000 Porsche when she drunkenly mowed down a man on a date, one of her passengers revealed.

Arllette Reyes told jurors at the manslaughter trial against Kristina Chambers that she met up with Chambers at a bar before getting in the car with her for a terrifying ride that ended with the death of Joe McMullen on April 20, 2023.

Chambers blames her Christian Louboutin heels for the crash, claiming they slipped and caused her to accelerate into McMullen, who was leaving a donut shop on a first date.

Kristina Chambers, the wealthy Texas housewife on trial for manslaughter, bragged about her $150,000 Porsche before allegedly drunkenly getting behind the wheel, a witness testified. Houston Police

At Lola’s Depot, a dive bar, Chambers told Reyes about about how she was an influencer and that her hedge fund manager husband purchased a Porsche 911 Carrera for her for $149,000 just two months earlier, Reyes recounted.

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“I was hoping I could get a ride in it,” Reyes told jurors, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Chambers flaunted her wealth to her pals, living in a $1.6 million, modernist McMansion with husband Xuan Si. He filed for divorce after her arrest.

So Reyes, Chambers and a third friend got in the sports car and Chambers floored it for a short ride to her home.

But the alleged drunken driver — who had gone restaurant and bar hopping that night — was going so fast she missed a turn and careened into oncoming traffic, Reyes testified.

“I was praying or wondering why I was there,” the witness said.

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Chambers is accused of fatally crashing into Joe McMullin, who was standing on a sidewalk during her out-of-control cruise.

Reyes recalled seeing a man and a woman standing on the sidewalk as the car was headed toward them.

“It all happened so fast,” she said. “One second we were on the wrong side of the road and then we were going to the right and I saw them. I think I put my hands out. I think I closed my eyes. I felt like there was nothing I could do.”

Reyes said she now knows the man and woman they hit were McMullin, 33, and Briana Iturrino.

The pair had gone to karaoke for a first date, and Iturrino narrowly avoided injury in the crash.

Chambers allegedly told her pal at the bar that she had just been gifted the $150,000 Porsche 911 Carrera by her husband two-months prior, a witness said. KHOU 11

Reyes was the last witness called by prosecutors Tuesday. Chambers’ team began calling toxicology and intoxication experts, according to a report by Fox 26.

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Prosecutor Andrew Figliuzzi told jurors during opening statements Friday that Chambers was “itching to show off her sports car,” despite allegedly being blind drunk.

Her blood alcohol was allegedly .301% — or almost four times the legal limit — an hour after the wreck. She also had traces of cocaine in her system, prosecutors said.

But Chambers’ lawyer Mark Thiessen told jurors the heel of her pricey pumps got stuck on the gas pedal at the same moment she started driving down “one of Houston’s most dangerous curves.”

Chambers had allegedly been bar hopping in the hours before the crash.

An earlier witness, Officer Joseph Little, told jurors about how Chambers blew hundreds of dollars that night so her and her friend could feast on delicacies and drink cocktails and wine.

She spent $800, including $669 on a meal at high-end joint Bludom, where she splurged on caviar, oysters, martinis, wine, risotto and potato wedges, Little testified, citing bank records.

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She and her pal went to at least four bars where, prosecutors estimate Chambers consumed at least six alcoholic drinks.

Chambers and Reyes were hospitalized after the crash.

She faces between up to 20 years behind bars if convicted.



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Why Rueben Owens II and E.J. Smith are crucial to Texas A&M’s championship goals

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Why Rueben Owens II and E.J. Smith are crucial to Texas A&M’s championship goals


The double-edged sword of upper-crust contention includes a prohibition of regression or setbacks. The best teams — the ones that hope to play in college football’s most meaningful bowl games in December and January — must be equipped to quickly and seamlessly fill the holes that open along the path toward it.

Texas A&M, now down a workhorse weapon for the foreseeable future, is now among that group.

Running back Le’Veon Moss will miss a “significant amount of time,” head coach Mike Elko said after A&M’s win vs. Florida last week, but is expected to return this season. The Aggies — ranked third in the AP Top 25 poll and undefeated at 7-0 for the first time since the 1994 season — are in an enviable position as it pertains to the College Football Playoff and don’t have time to lag while Moss heals.

The Aggies’ rushing offense ranks within the middle of the pack nationwide and among the bottom third of all SEC teams, per Pro Football Focus, and sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed runs the ball fewer times per game on average this year compared to last year. The ground game could be an area that the Aggies could exploit this Saturday against LSU’s defense, which allowed 239 rushing yards in its loss to Vanderbilt last weekend.

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A duo of A&M backs with prodigious backgrounds will now try to recreate Saturday in Baton Rouge, La. — and potentially for the rest of the season.

Sophomore Rueben Owens II, a once-prized recruit, has rushed for three touchdowns in two starts since Moss was sidelined. Senior E.J. Smith — the son of Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith — has been elevated from a depth position to a backup role and carried the ball seven times in Texas A&M’s win vs. Arkansas Saturday night.

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Owens scored two second-half touchdowns vs. the Razorbacks to fortify a wild 45-42 win. Smith converted a critical 4th and 1 rush to sustain a fourth-quarter drive that ended in a 12-yard touchdown run from Owens.

“We answered the call every time we needed to, “Elko said. ”I thought it was really great the way we went out in the second half and just continued to make plays to find a way to win the game.”

Owens and Smith were among those to thank. Owens, a five-star recruit from El Campo, was the second-ranked running back nationally and the second-best signee in former head coach Jimbo Fisher’s last full recruiting class. He earned All-SEC honors as a freshman when he split time as a back and returner, but missed the entirety of last season with a lower-body injury.

The 5-11 back now leads the Aggies in yardage after just one-and-a-half games as the team’s de facto starter. He rushed for a career-high 142 yards vs. Mississippi State earlier this month, when Moss was still healthy, and totaled 120 yards and three scores against Florida and Arkansas in two games after that.

“I think he’s one of the kids who gets a lot better every week that he goes out there because those reps are so valuable for him,” Elko said. “He’s getting more and more comfortable with what we’re asking him to do in the run game with the run lines and the run angles … I just think he continues to develop every week and to be more of a complete back. Obviously we need him to continue to do that.”

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Smith, a four-star recruit at Jesuit, chose Stanford over offers from A&M, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State and others nearly six years ago. He, like Owens, saw what could’ve been a breakout campaign end prematurely. Smith rushed for 206 yards and three touchdowns in the first two games of the 2022 season but missed the remainder of it with a knee injury.

He was a third-stringer one year later and transferred to A&M prior to the 2024 season. The first-year result mirrored his final season at Stanford when he was no higher than third on the running back depth chart. His sixth and final season of collegiate eligibility began the same this year, too, with both Moss and Owens ahead of him.

“When you think about it, E.J. Smith’s not having all of the limelight he dreamed of having going into his senior year, I’m sure,” Elko said. “I’m sure he wishes he was the feature back carrying the ball 20 times a game.”

But.

“But,” Elko continued, “here it is, fourth and one at Arkansas, in our own territory, and he’s got to convert, and that’s a championship play. That play and that player will have as much to do with our success as anyone, right?”

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The Aggies will hope so.

Find more Texas A&M coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.



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Lawyers for wealthy Texas housewife accused of plowing Porsche into man on first date argue her designer heels caused deadly crash

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Lawyers for wealthy Texas housewife accused of plowing Porsche into man on first date argue her designer heels caused deadly crash


The wealthy Texas housewife accused of plowing into and killing a man on a first date while drunk and high claims her expensive high heels got stuck on the gas pedal of her Porsche 911 Carrera.

Kristina Chambers, 34, went on trial Friday for manslaughter in connection with the April 2023 crash that killed 33-year-old Joseph McMullin as he and his date were leaving a Voodoo Doughnut shop in Houston.

Prosecutors allege Chambers had been bar-hopping with friends that night, was four times over the legal alcohol limit, and had small baggies of cocaine in her car and purse, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Kristina Chambers was charged with manslaughter in connection with the April 2023 crash that killed 33-year-old Joseph McMullin as he and his date were leaving a Voodoo Doughnut shop in Houston. Houston Police

But her attorney, Mark Thiessen, argued her designer shoes caused the fatal crash.

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Thiessen claims his clients expensive Christian Louboutin heels had gotten stuck on the gas pedal of her Porsche as she drover down “one of Houston’s most dangerous curves.”

However, prosecutors Andrew Figliuzzi refuted the argument to the jury — believing Chambers was “itching to show off her sports car” to her two friends inside the Porsche at the time of the fatal wreck.

About an hour after the crash, Chambers registered a blood alcohol level of .301, nearly four times the legal limit, the Houston Chronicle reported, citing medical records.

Audio tech Briana Iturrino, who was on a date with McMullin that night, told the court they’d just left Voodoo Doughnuts around 2:25 a.m. when she saw blinding headlights barreling straight at them.

Iturrino testified that she realized the speedy sports car — estimated to be traveling over 70 mph at the time of impact — was about to make a sharp turn directly toward them.

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Joseph McMullin was killed while on a first date in Houston.

In the blink of an eye, the Porsche whipped past, missing Iturrino by inches — and when she turned to shout a warning to McMullin, he had vanished.

“I thought he had gotten out of the way, because I couldn’t find him,” Iturrino said.

Iturrino said she felt something brush against her hip, which she first thought was the car, but later realized was McMullin being thrown about 30 feet as Chambers drove on and slammed into a pole.

She then called 911 and a dispatcher instructed her to perform CPR until paramedics arrived, but McMullin died at the scene.

Chambers and her two passengers were injured in the wreck.

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About an hour after the crash, Chambers registered a blood alcohol level of .301, nearly four times the legal limit, according to medical records. KHOU 11

The general manager of the nearby Slick Willie’s pool hall, Alfredo Ponce, also testified, telling the court he heard the crash and ran outside to help, the outlet reported.

“I’ve seen so many accidents on that road,” Ponce said. “Every time, I get out and help whoever needs help and is injured.”

Ponce testified that the crash was one of the worst he had seen and said when he reached the sports car to help those inside he remembered it reeked of alcohol. 

Chambers was charged with manslaughter in McMullin’s death. She has pleaded not guilty, with prosecutors alleging she was driving at an excessive speed and lost control of her vehicle.

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In the two years since her arrest, Chambers’ case has seen a string of legal battles.

A wrongful death lawsuit filed by McMullin’s parents against Chambers in June 2023 remains pending.

The suit also partly blames Chambers’ former partner — hedge fund manager, Xuan Si, who filed for divorce from her just days after she was released on bail — for purchasing the luxury sports car just months before the fatal crash.

Chambers and her two passengers were injured in the wreck.

However, Si has denied purchasing the sports car for his ex-wife, claiming instead that she bought the car herself using cash from their joint account.

Si also denied that his wife had a drinking problem, and said he had never seen her consume drugs or drive drunk.

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Sebastian Lopez — a close friend who was riding with Chambers the night of the fatal crash — described her as an “alcoholic” in his deposition and claimed Si knew she regularly drank and did drugs.

He added that she’d driven drunk “a handful” of times, even after getting the luxury Porsche.

McMullins grieving parents are seeking over $1 million in compensation for their son’s death.

Lawyers in Chambers’ criminal trial have been forbidden from mentioning the explosive claims in the civil lawsuit, which is slated for an April court date.

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