NOT ONE media outlet reported what party he hailed from. Democrat, of course. They did however immediately identify the Attorney General as Republican. The left elite will will fight voter fraud investigations and prosecutions tooth and nail. They cannot win without it.

Texas Attorney General arrests Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina and wife on voter fraud charges

April 25, 2019 Updated: April 25, 2019:

A South Texas mayor and his wife have been arrested on voter fraud charges, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday.

City of Edinburg Mayor Richard Molina and his wife, Dalia, are charged with illegal voting, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in jail and an up to $10,000 fine, related to his 2017 mayoral election. Molina unseated the incumbent Mayor Richard Garcia after winning by more than 1,200 votes in that election.

“Voter fraud is an affront to democracy and places the decision-making authority of the Texas electorate in the hands of those who have no right to make those choices,” Paxton said in a press release. “My office will always do everything it can to protect the integrity of Texas elections and the rights of every legal voter to cast a ballot and have it counted accurately.”

The couple is accused of asking voters to change their addresses to places they didn’t live, including an apartment complex Molina owns, so they could vote for him in the November 2017 city election as part of what Paxton described as “an organized illegal voting scheme.”

“Obviously we deny the allegations and look forward to our day in court,” said Molina’s lawyer, Carlos A. Garcia of Mission, Tx., who declined to comment further until he’d seen the complaint.

City spokeswoman Cary Zayas said Molina will address the criminal charges sometime early next week.

In a May 2018 video posted to Molina’s Facebook page, the mayor claimed the investigation was politically motivated and urged investigators to look into his opponent’s supporters.

“I won that race by more than 1,240 votes,” Molina said in the video. “A handful of weak accusations will not change the outcome.”

The Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute both cases with the help of the attorney general’s election fraud unit.

According to the Attorney General’s office, 18 people who also took part in the scheme have been arrested since last year.

Hidalgo County District Attorney Ricardo Rodriguez said in a statement Thursday that his office is appreciative of witnesses who came forward and cooperated with the investigation and encouraged anyone else with information to do the same.

“We’re prepared to present a full array of charges against Molina and his co-conspirators to the grand jury for a thorough evaluation of the evidence to ensure justice is served.”