Houston catches flack in briefing
Abbott, Trump lob criticism at city for virus strategy while lauding state on reopening
WASHINGTON — With Texas under increasing scrutiny for jailing a hair salon owner in Dallas, Gov. Greg Abbott used a meeting with President Donald Trump in the White House and a national television interview to announce he’s eliminating the threat of incarceration from his COVID-19 executive orders.
“We should not be taking these people and put them behind bars,” Abbott said with Trump sitting by his side in the Oval Office. “In the state of Texas, nobody can be put behind bars because they are not following an executive order.”
That declaration came at the height of a whirlwind trip for the Republican governor, who also blasted officials in Dallas and Houston on national TV on Wednesday night for overzealous enforcement.
While Abbott prepared for his meeting with the president, it was revealed that a White House valet had tested positive for COVID-19, suggesting that Abbott may have been exposed to coronavirus germs by Trump as the two sat a few feet away from each other without masks.
The no-jail rule was an abrupt about-face for Abbott, who includ
ed up to 180 days in jail for anyone in Texas violating his orders to stay home except for essential business, as well as other orders aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus.
Those orders gave Dallas judge Eric Moyé the authority to send hair salon owner Shelley Luther to jail earlier this week for continuing to operate her business.
Trump asked Abbott about the case during their meeting.
“She’s free today,” Abbott responded.
“Good,” Trump said. “I was watching the salon owner and she looked so great, so professional, so good. And she was talking about her children. She has to feed her children.”
Abbott made his new executive order retroactive to make sure anyone jailed for violating previous orders — including Luther and two women in Laredo who were jailed in April — would be released.
Blasting big-city officials
Before meeting with Trump, Abbott used an appearance on Fox News with Sean Hannity on Wednesday night to accuse local officials in Dallas and Houston of being too heavy-handed with coronavirus restrictions.
“In Houston, they were issuing fines and potential jail time for anybody who refused to wear a mask,” Abbott told Hannity. “Wearing a mask is the best practice, however, no one should forfeit their liberty and be sent to jail for not wearing a mask.”
But his claim was not entirely true. When Harris County put its mask rule in place for all residents it included a $1,000 fine but did not include any jail time such as those in Austin and other Texas cities, where violators faced up to 180 days in jail. Abbott last week issued an executive order that barred cities and counties from fining or jailing people for violating mask requirements.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo has said she never intended to fine people. She said putting the fine in the order was meant to send a message that it is not optional to wear a face covering. She has said she did not know of anyone who had been issued a fine.
Mayor Sylvester Turner said on Thursday he disagrees with Abbott removing jail time as a possible punishment for violating COVID-19 restrictions.
“Once you take the enforcement mechanism out of your order, you really don’t have an order anymore,” Turner said. “You can’t enforce something you can’t enforce.”
But it wasn’t just Houston under fire from Abbott, a former judge and Texas Attorney General.
“In Dallas County, the Dallas County District Attorney announced a policy that he’s not going to prosecute any thief who steals things valued at less than $750,” Abbott told Hannity. “At the same time, authorities in Dallas are talking about releasing inmates from prison or jail because of the possibility of contracting COVID-19.”
Abbott’s comment referenced a move Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot made in early 2019. Creuzot said he wasn’t going to prosecute thefts of personal items under $750 that are stolen out of necessity — such as food or baby formula — in the name of criminal justice reform and to reduce overcrowding in jails. However, Creuzot said he would still prosecute other thefts of items under $750 in value.
“Criminalizing poverty is counter-productive for our community’s health and safety. For that reason, this office will not prosecute theft of personal items less than $750 unless the evidence shows that the alleged theft was for economic gain,” the criminal justice reform plan issued by Creuzot’s office stated.
While Abbott was taking issue with Houston and Dallas on television, those cities won praise from White House coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx. During the White House briefing with Abbott and Trump, Birx praised both cities for “really containing and mitigating” the epidemic.
Meanwhile, Trump heaped praise on Abbott for how he’s managed the crisis and the steps he is taking to reopen parts of the Texas economy. Last week Abbott allowed restaurants, retail stores, movie theaters, libraries, museums and malls to open at 25 percent capacity. This week, he is allowing gyms, hair salons and barbershops to re-open as long as they adhere to strict guidelines to limit the spread of the virus.
“The relationship with Texas has been phenomenal,” Trump told reporters with Abbott by his side.
‘We’re all warriors’
Abbott’s meeting with Trump came as national news outlets reported that a member of the military serving as one of Trump’s valets tested positive for the coronavirus, forcing Trump to be tested again before sitting down with the governor.
Trump tested negative and announced all White House staff will be tested daily going forward, upping the once-a-week schedule that had been in effect.
“It’s a little bit strange, but it’s one of those things,” Trump told Abbott.
“You can be with somebody and everything’s fine and then something happens to that person and they test positive,” Trump said. “We’re all warriors together. I am, you are. We all are.”
On Thursday, Texas hit the grim milestone of 1,000 deaths; 36,309 people in the state have tested positive for the disease, according to a Hearst Newspapers data analysis. While the daily death count is higher in May so far compared with April, Texas has had far few deaths than other large states such as California, New York and Florida.
“We have one of the the lowest death rates in the United States of America,” Abbott said.
Abbott assured Trump that Texas is allowing parts of the economy to open up, but safely. He has said he’s been in constant contact with Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, to make sure his plans met with their approval before he rolled them out.
Abbott said the state has strike teams ready to go anywhere there is a spike in cases, such as the Texas Panhandle, where meat packing plans are reportedly responsible for a surge in coronavirus cases.