They did in 1996…
Attorney General Ken Paxton Blocks Biden Administration from Disposing of Wall Materials Before President Trump Takes Office
December 27, 2024 | Press Release
Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a victory for President-elect Donald Trump’s border-security agenda during a hearing today before a federal judge. The hearing was called at Attorney General Paxton’s request to uncover potential legal violations committed by the Biden Administration after recent reports that segments of the border wall were auctioned off for pennies on the dollar.
The Biden Administration confirmed to the court today that it will agree to an order preventing the outgoing administration from disposing of any further border wall materials over the next 30 days—allowing President Trump to use those materials as he sees fit. This will be adopted as an order of the court, making it enforceable if any violations occur.
Additionally, the court stated that Texas is entitled to documentation proving that the Biden Administration has not violated an injunction secured by Attorney General Paxton in May of 2024 that required the Biden Administration to spend statutorily obligated funds on border wall construction after the federal government attempted to illegally redirect the money. If it is shown that the Biden Administration disposed of border wall materials purchased with funds subject to that injunction in violation of a court order—or that the Department of Justice made misrepresentations regarding the border materials that have been auctioned off—this would constitute unethical and sanctionable conduct, and the responsible parties could be held in contempt of court.
“We have successfully blocked the Biden Administration from disposing of any further border wall materials before President Trump takes office,” said Attorney General Paxton. “This follows our major victory forcing Biden to build the wall, and we will hold his Administration accountable for illegally subverting our Nation’s border security until their very last day in power, especially where their actions are clearly motivated by a desire to thwart President-elect Trump’s immigration agenda.”
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-blocks-biden-administration-disposing-wall-materials-president-trump
Putin apologises over plane crash, without saying Russia at fault
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has apologised to the president of neighbouring Azerbaijan over the downing of a commercial airliner in Russian airspace, in which 38 people were killed - but stopped short of saying Russia was responsible.
In his first comments on the Christmas Day crash, Putin said the "tragic incident" had occurred when Russian air defence systems were repelling Ukrainian drones.
Ukraine's President Volodymr Zelensky said Russia must "stop spreading disinformation" about the strike.
The plane is believed to have come under fire from Russian air defence as it tried to land in the Russian region of Chechnya - forcing it to divert across the Caspian Sea.
The Azerbaijan Airlines jet then crash-landed near Aktau in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 on board.
Most of the passengers on the flight were from Azerbaijan, with others from Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
It is believed most of those who survived were seated in the plane's rear.
Flight J2-8243 had been en route from the Azerbaijan capital of Baku to the Chechen capital of Grozny on 25 December when it came under fire and was forced to divert.
The Kremlin released a statement on Saturday noting Putin had spoken to Azerbaijan's president Ilham Aliyev by phone.
"(President) Vladimir Putin apologised that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace and once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured," it said.
In the rare publicised apology, Putin also acknowledged the plane had repeatedly tried to land at Grozny airport in Chechnya.
At the time, the cities of Grozny, Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were "being attacked by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, and Russian air defence systems repelled these attacks", he said.
The Kremlin read-out made no direct admission that the plane had been struck by Russian missiles.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqx8l1533j5o