https://twitter.com/MrJoshPerry/status/829198506351013889
At a meeting between Donald Trump and county sheriffs at the White House on Tuesday, the president jokingly offered to “destroy” the career of an unnamed state senator’s for fighting for reform of civil asset forfeiture laws in the state. Here’s the clip of Trump responding to Rockwall County Sheriff Harold Eavenson who said, “We’ve got a state senator in Texas that’s talking about introducing legislation to require conviction before we can receive that forfeiture money”:
President Trump: "Do you want to give me his name? We'll destroy his career" https://t.co/nm4f0UplZP pic.twitter.com/yAAm5BtOh0
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) February 8, 2017
The unnamed state senator is thought to be Konni Burton, a Republican from Colleyville:
Trump vs Texas lawmaker: Not that she'd mind, but has #Trump drawn a target on Konni #Burton? https://t.co/sIJLBQqLhv #txlege
— John Gravois (@Grav1) February 7, 2017
Sen. Burton fired back at the president and Eavenson over the comments accusing her of somehow being soft on crime because of her defense of property rights:
Yday, Trump joked he'd help a Tx sheriff "destroy" a senator who wants to overhaul asset seizure laws. Just in from @KonniBurton: #txlege pic.twitter.com/DfxHrVfqOq
— Lauren McGaughy (@lmcgaughy) February 8, 2017
More from Sen. Burton, who is backing a bill to reform the law:
To this end, I am filing a major reform package which keeps asset forfeiture in the toolbox of law enforcement but creates reasonable protections for citizens, requires proper reporting on the use of forfeiture, and raises the legal standard for the government to engage in the taking of property. Property rights are the foundation of any free system of government, and we have allowed the government to erode them in the name of law and order. We must do better and I intend to lead the charge.
And here’s a great write-up on Sen. Burton’s bill from our sister publication HotAir.
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