All law schools train aspiring trial lawyers and judges to gather evidence, evaluate witnesses, and test claims and theories. We also learn not to interfere in criminal investigations. But Texas Governor Greg Abbott seems to have forgotten his legal training—and his ethics given his recent ham-handed response to the horrific school shooting in Uvalde. Instead, his words and actions highlighted what appears to be a serious mental decline.
Among his first public remarks, Abbott claimed “it could have been worse” and praised “valiant public officials” for their “quick response.” He apparently relied on partial and misleading information he personally collected from officials in interviews—without bothering to review data such as 911 calls and apparently ignored parents at the scene. The governor has publicly described his process: “I wrote hand notes in sequential order. When I came out on that stage and told the public what happened, it was a recitation of what everyone told me.”
Abbott later told the world he was “livid” and “misled” and walked back his praise. “As everybody has learned, the information I was given turned out, in part, to be inaccurate.”
