Attorneys General and Lieutenant Governors

[Cartmann99]

We've got threads for the state houses and the governors, so I thought I'd start one for these folks.

Ken Paxton says he’s being sued by the state bar for misconduct over his lawsuit challenging the 2020 election

Quote

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the state's top lawyer, said Friday the state bar was suing him for professional misconduct related to his lawsuit challenging the 2020 presidential election.

"I have recently learned that the Texas State Bar — which has been waging a months-long witch-hunt against me — now plans to sue me and my top deputy for filing Texas v. Penn: the historic challenge to the unconstitutional 2020 presidential election joined by nearly half of all the states and over a hundred members of Congress," Paxton said in a statement released on social media. "I stand by this lawsuit completely."

A few hours after saying he was being sued by the bar, Paxton’s office announced an investigation into the Texas Bar Foundation for "facilitating mass influx of illegal aliens" by donating money to groups that "encourage, participate in, and fund illegal immigration at the Texas-Mexico border." The foundation is made up of attorneys and raises money to provide legal education and services. It is separate from the State Bar of Texas, which is an administrative arm of the Texas Supreme Court.

Representatives for the Texas Bar Foundation could not immediately be reached for comment. Trey Apffel, executive director of the State Bar of Texas, said the bar and the foundation are privately funded and don't receive taxpayer funds.

"The foundation is separately funded through charitable donations and governed by its own board of trustees," Apffel said. "While we are unsure what donations are at issue here, we are confident that the foundation’s activities are in line with its mission of enhancing the rule of law and the system of justice in Texas."

Paxton, an embattled Republican seeking a third term, said state bar investigators who now appear to be moving on a lawsuit against him are biased and said the decision to sue him, which comes a week before early voting in his GOP runoff for attorney general, was politically motivated. He is facing Land Commissioner George P. Bush in the May 24 election.

"Texas Bar: I’ll see you and the leftists that control you in court," he said. "I’ll never let you bully me, my staff or the Texans I represent into backing down or going soft on defending the Rule of Law — something for which you have little knowledge."

In fact, the investigation into Paxton has been pending for months. Last July, a group of 16 lawyers that included four former state bar presidents filed an ethics complaint against Paxton arguing that he demonstrated a pattern of professional misconduct, including his decision to file a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential elections in battleground states where former President Donald Trump, a Paxton ally, had lost. The attorneys said the lawsuit was "frivolous" and had been filed without evidence. The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed it, saying Texas had no standing to sue.

In March, the investigation moved ahead and Paxton was given 20 days to decide whether he wanted a trial by jury or an administrative hearing to resolve the complaint.

On Friday, a spokesperson for the state bar said the group had not been notified of a decision. Jim Harrington, a civil rights attorney and one of the lawyers who filed the ethics complaint, said he also had not been notified of a trial but that Paxton would have received notification.

"I was as surprised as you were to see that tweet this morning," Harrington said.

Because Paxton appears to have chosen a trial over an administrative hearing, the case would be tried in Travis County, Harrington said. The case would not be overseen by a judge from the heavily Democratic county, however. Instead, it will be overseen by a judge from outside the county but within the Texas Judicial Branch’s administrative region, which stretches north to Hill County, west to San Saba County, east to Austin County and south to Lavaca County.

Sylvia Borunda Firth, the State Bar of Texas’ president, said in a statement that the group is "dedicated to fostering ethical conduct in the legal profession and protecting the public through the attorney discipline system" which provides procedural rules to process, investigate and prosecute complaints.

“The system is designed to ensure fairness to all parties," she said. "Partisan political considerations play no role in determining whether to pursue a grievance or how that grievance proceeds through the system. Any claims to the contrary are untrue."

Borunda Firth said the bar’s 12-person volunteer committee called the Commission for Lawyer Discipline provides oversight to the group’s disciplinary counsel, which administers the discipline system with help from volunteer grievance panels across the state. The committee members determine whether an attorney violated the state’s rules of professional conduct and what sanction is appropriate.

“These unpaid volunteers devote countless hours to hearing and considering cases to ensure attorneys are fulfilling their obligations to the public," she said. "Without them, the attorney discipline system could not function. We are grateful for their service.”

Separately, Paxton faces multiple other scandals. He continues to fight a seven-year-old securities fraud case and last year came under FBI investigation for abuse of office after eight of his former deputies accused him of bribery. He’s also asking the Texas Supreme Court to throw out a whistleblower case against him by four of those former employees, who allege they were fired after they reported Paxton to authorities. Paxton has denied all wrongdoing.

 

[Howl]

Yup, our very own AG Ken Paxton.  Does any other state's AG carry as much legal baggage as our Ken?

What do you think of Jaworski?  That's who I voted for in the first primary.  I need to get my ducks in a row for the run offs! 

[Cartmann99]

1 hour ago, Howl said:

What do you think of Jaworski?  That's who I voted for in the first primary. 

 I like him and Garza, but I think Jaworski has a better shot of winning in the general.

1 hour ago, Howl said:

I need to get my ducks in a row for the run offs! 

Me too. Ten more days until early voting starts. 🗳️

 

[Howl]

My current fave Lt. Gov.  is Pennsylvania's John Fetterman. His dog Levi has his own twitter account.  He is AWESOME, actually both Levi and John Fetterman are awesome.   He's currently running for Senate and I think has a chance of winning.  He's the reason I know there is competition between Wawa vs Sheetz convenience stores, with die hard fans of each.  

My least fave Lt. Gov. is of course Texas' own Dan "let the elderly die of Covid" Patrick. 

Edited May 9, 2022 by Howl

[Cartmann99]

I missed this article when it first came out.

Why Ken Paxton’s supporters in the Texas attorney general race are unbothered by his mounting scandals

Quote

SPRING BRANCH — On the first day of early voting for his Republican primary runoff, Attorney General Ken Paxton spoke to a crowd of supporters where he barely acknowledged the contest and totally ignored his well-known challenger, Land Commissioner George P. Bush.

It underscored a confidence as Paxton closes in on the Tuesday runoff where polls show he is well positioned to beat Bush, who has relentlessly attacked Paxton’s integrity as the incumbent fends off a number of personal and legal scandals. But Paxton’s supporters are unswayed by his baggage — if not outright dismissive — as they stick with him based on his record of battling the federal government in court.

“I really don’t care as long as he’s fighting the fight,” said Chris Byrd, a member of the State Republican Executive Committee who went to see Paxton speak to the Bulverde Spring Branch Conservative Republicans. “Like him or not, Ken Paxton has exhibited more courage in fighting evil than any attorney general we’ve had.”

Paxton was indicted for felony securities fraud charges several months after he first became attorney general in 2015. In 2020, the FBI began investigating him over claims by former deputies that he abused his office to help a wealthy donor. He has denied wrongdoing in both cases.

Bush has said the legal issues make Paxton unfit for office and could risk the important seat for Republicans in November. And he has increasingly attacked Paxton over an even more personal issue: an extramarital affair that he reportedly had that is connected to the FBI probe.

Separately, Paxton is openly feuding with the state bar, which is suing him over his lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results in four battleground states.

But after an action-packed primary with two other prominent GOP challengers — U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert of Tyler and Eva Guzman, a former Texas Supreme Court justice — the race is ending on a relatively low-key note. Public and private polls point to a Paxton victory, though a Dallas Morning News-University of Texas at Tyler poll released Sunday proved to be an outlier in giving Paxton only a single-digit lead. More Republican officials, like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have coalesced behind Paxton, while Gohmert and Guzman have declined to endorse Bush despite their well-documented objections to Paxton. And Paxton has refused to debate Bush, confident he is already on a winning trajectory.

Bush outraised Paxton on their only campaign finance report for the runoff — $2.3 million to $2 million — though Paxton had six times more cash on hand than Bush did.

Paxton has urged runoff voters to “end the Bush dynasty.” Bush has countered that with an ad where he says he is “proud of my family’s contributions to Texas and America, but this race isn’t about my last name — it’s about Ken Paxton’s crimes.”

At the meeting of the Bulverde Spring Branch Conservative Republicans, which has endorsed Paxton, supporters said they backed Paxton since the beginning of the primary, hardly considered the alternatives and care more about his job performance than his personal legal issues.

“I like that he’s a fighter,” said Colette Laine, a Spring Branch coffee shop owner. “I like that he has a lot of lawsuits out. He’s really utilizing his office.”

She added that any personal ethical baggage “doesn’t weigh much” on her decision to support Paxton because she is more focused on how he is doing his job.

The data supports such sentiment. The UT-Tyler poll asked Paxton supporters what they like about him more than Bush, and the No. 1 reason was “job performance.” Thirty-four percent picked that reason, while only 8% said “integrity.” Integrity, meanwhile, was the top reason cited by Bush voters.

Paxton focused almost exclusively on his work in office as he addressed the group Monday. He recounted at length how his office defended the state’s near-total abortion ban at the U.S. Supreme Court last year. He went over the 12 lawsuits that his office filed ahead of the 2020 election seeking to stop local governments from changing election procedures in the name of the coronavirus pandemic. And he touted his legal battles against the Biden administration, specifically on border issues like the “remain in Mexico” policy that requires some asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico while their immigration proceedings unfold.

Rather than acknowledge his runoff opponent, Paxton appeared more animated by his growing chorus of detractors among fellow legal professionals. In addition to the state bar, Paxton has gone to war against the all-Republican Court of Criminal Appeals for a ruling last year that stripped the attorney general of his power to unilaterally prosecute voter fraud.

Paxton’s broadsides against the court have raised concerns with legal experts, but he was unapologetic Monday evening, suggesting the court purposely waited until two days after the primary filing deadline to issue its opinion as a way to avoid political blowback.

“We got to make sure the next round that we pay attention to those people and get rid of everybody but Kevin Yeary,” Paxton said, referring to the one dissenting judge in the 8-1 ruling. “And I’m gonna keep talking about this even though the bar says I’m not allowed to.”

The crowd of over 100 people gave Paxton a standing ovation as he left the room after speaking.

Linden Sisk, the group’s treasurer, said afterward he likes Paxton because he is “standing up for the Constitution and fighting against federal government overreach.” Sandy Mitchel, a Bulverde retiree, said she likes that Paxton is a conservative, a Christian and “out for the people.” And Mark, who declined to provide his last name, said he was supporting Paxton because he has “been fighting the fight — and winning.”

That is a key word in Paxton’s campaign, which hands out literature boasting of his Trump endorsement — complete with a screenshot of the July 2021 statement — that Paxton is “defending Texas and winning,” with an emphasis on the last two words. The literature says Paxton has “sued the Biden administration over 25 times on issues like illegal immigration and mask/vaccine mandates and has won over 90% of the time.” A Houston Chronicle analysis published last month found that Paxton’s win rate is “closer to 71% including cases where judges temporarily blocked President Joe Biden’s policies but a final resolution is still pending.”

Almost none of the Paxton supporters The Texas Tribune spoke with said they even considered supporting Bush, using words like “establishment,” “globalist” and “wealthy elite” to describe him and his famous political family.

When it came to the claims of abuse in office against Paxton, they showed some familiarity but little concern.

“Those are unproven allegations” coming from “disgruntled employees,” Sisk said. “Anybody can make an allegation,” he added, and “everybody’s entitled” to due process, including Paxton.

“I’ve looked into it,” Mitchel said. “I think a lot of it is made-up things, and I believe him when he tells us what he’s doing [in office]. He does his job.”

Paxton sought to clear himself last year with an unsigned 374-page report produced by his office, but that was met with wide skepticism given the source. The former deputies, who are now suing him in a whistleblower lawsuit, spoke out ahead of the primary, accusing him of making “numerous false and misleading public statements” on the campaign trail.

As the runoffs nears, Bush has more specifically attacked Paxton over the reported affair, despite saying at the beginning of the primary that he would not make an issue out of it. But if Paxton’s supporters are troubled by it, they are not saying so. In April, the Tribune reached out to a dozen and a half Paxton endorsers to see if they were concerned about the alleged affair. Most did not respond at all, a few declined to comment and one, the Collin County Conservative Republicans, provided a statement that blasted the Tribune for asking, calling the organization a “slimy publication and a mouthpiece for the leftist agenda.”

Republican voters already gave Paxton a pass on his legal woes when he won reelection in 2018 without drawing a single primary opponent. Back then, his main vulnerability was the securities fraud case.

But the whistleblower claims that followed gave new hope to Paxton’s critics, partly because they were coming from respected conservative lawyers who could not be easily dismissed as politically motivated. Paxton’s opponents in the March primary campaigned most heavily on that controversy — and while Paxton always remained in the lead, they expressed confidence that his fortunes would change once voters learned more about his problems in the runoff.

“Only 1 of 3 Republicans know that Ken Paxton is facing three felony counts in Houston court, is facing an FBI investigation looking into bribery, corruption — so part of that is on me,” Bush said on the night of the primary. “I’m gonna have to educate the public on this issue.”

Polls show there has been little movement to that end.

In UT-Tyler polling, the share of Republican voters who believe that Paxton has the integrity to serve as attorney general is virtually unchanged from the primary. Its February survey found 50% of GOP voters believed that; its May poll put the number at 49%. The share of Republican voters who were unsure also barely moved, remaining at about a third.

In any case, Republican voters are largely aware of Paxton’s legal troubles, according to another pollster, the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. Its April survey found that 81% of Republican voters said they had heard about the “legal problems of Attorney General Ken Paxton” to some degree. The last time the pollster asked the question was in October 2016, and the figure was 71%.

Paxton’s campaign declined to comment for this story. But with days until the runoff, the campaign has continued to show Republicans are uniting behind the incumbent despite his vulnerabilities. On Wednesday morning, a majority of the State Republican Executive Committee endorsed Paxton.

 

 

[Cartmann99]

 

[Cartmann99]

[Howl]

On 5/25/2022 at 6:02 PM, Cartmann99 said:

 

Our ethics challenged Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking a judge to dismiss a State Bar of Texas lawsuit that accuses him of promoting lies to deceive the nation's highest court. Paxton claims it's an unconstitutional check on his power (which he apparently sees as unlimited) and claims it's politically motivated just so mean because he supports Trump!  

[Ozlsn]

Well that screams "I am confident in my innocence and not concerned about any legal documents being served" then.

Edited September 27, 2022 by Ozlsn

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

On 9/27/2022 at 1:36 AM, Ozlsn said:

Well that screams "I am confident in my innocence and not concerned about any legal documents being served" then.

So to recap:  The top attorney of Texas, who is sworn to uphold the laws of the State of Texas, flees to avoid being served with a subpoena in a civil case.  I think section 38.16 of the Texas Penal Code might have a little something to say on that subject:

(a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly by words or physical action prevents the execution of any process in a civil cause. (b) It is an exception to the application of this section that the actor evaded service of process by avoiding detection. (c) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

Imagine if someone Paxton was trying to sue engaged in the same conduct.  Do you think he would shrug his shoulders and say, "Well, never mind.  He got away fair and square so I'm just going to drop the whole thing."  Hell no.  He'd throw a fit and demand that person be hunted down, arrested, and served.  What a hypocrite. 

[GreyhoundFan]

Ooh, this is good:

 

[Howl]

Well, this is an interesting development.  

Also, DoJ has taken over investigations into Paxton's shenanigans rampant corruption. 

[Howl]

Texas, y'all. 

You love to see it:   Legislature has little appetite to fund Ken Paxton’s settlement with whistleblowers   A lack of lawmaker support jeopardizes the attorney general’s $3.3 million settlement, which would resolve a lawsuit alleging Paxton fired high-ranking deputies who accused him of misconduct.  

I DO want to see the whistleblowers compensated.  I DON'T want my tax dollars to go towards that settlement. 

I'd say this may telegraph that Texas Republicans are getting kinda sick of Paxton's shenanigans and don't want to support him in the future.  That said, they probably would support him if they think he can be reliably elected.  Or maybe they know he'll face more legal charges in the coming year or two and may not be electable. 

[GreyhoundFan]

I’d love to see Paxton booted:

 

[Howl]

Life comes at ya fast, Ken Paxton. Longish post on Paxton's "activities" while in office: 

Spoiler

This is simply mind blowing.  Texans elected this corrupt asshat as TX attorney general for three consecutive terms, even though he was indicted for skullduggery with financial advising in his first term*, then his aides (all lawyers) blew the whistle and accused him of skullduggery, he fired all of them, there was a lawsuit over this that Paxton lost and those fired aides (all lawyers) are now owed $3 millions dollars, which Paxton wants the State of Texas to pay using taxpayer dollars, oh, and Jan. 6 *something something*.   So why now, why this?  Well, Ken accused the Speaker of the Texas House of presiding drunk but that's probably an excuse. 

So what was the skullduggery?  Paxton was BFFs with Nate Paul, a brash young real estate wheeler dealer and Paxton donor who was being sued by a non-profit who claimed that Nate Paul was less than transparent in his real estate portfolio re: the non-profit.  Paxton was accused of helping to shield Nate Paul from his legal woes. Then Paxton asked Nate Paul to give Paxton's mistress a job, which Nate Paul did.  Because friends do friends favors, amiright?  And Paxton's infidelity?  He ultimately apologized to Angela and came clean with his staff, so all good. 

*Ken Paxton's wife Angela, a Texas state senator, did what a good Texas wife would do and tried to introduce legislation that would have made what Paxton is charged with...not a felony.  Her attempt didn't get out of committee, but she did try.  She also "forgave" her husband's adultery because of course she did. 

Let's do timing. 

Texas legislature meets on alternate years from Jan - May, so it's a matter of few days until this year's session ends and suddenly they want to impeach Paxton.  WTAF! Eleventy 1111!!  The articles of impeachment are printed and have been passed out to House members.  

From Ron Filipkowski's tweet posted by @GreyhoundFan: "In TX, an official is immediately removed from office until his trial."  I'm assuming this refers to the impeachment trial, but surely there will be additional criminal indictments, and the existing criminal indictments will finally move forward.  

The TX legislature can vote to have a special session in the summer, which everybody hates, but they will do it if they have to?    Stay tuned. 

Here's what's pissing me off.  The articles of impeachment enumerate the charges against Paxton.  Much of this corrupt malfeasance was known a for YEARS, including in Paxton's first term as AG, yet the Republican Texas legislature ignored it.  They should all be criminally charged as well. 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by Howl

[GreyhoundFan]

Good:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I didn't realize his wife is a state senator. It's insane that she is not required to recuse herself. Can you imagine if the impeached official had a "D" after his name instead of an "R"? Anyone who had ever spoken to said official, even to say good morning, would be required to recuse themselves.

 

Sadly, this is true:

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[Ozlsn]

On 5/26/2023 at 11:36 PM, Howl said:

Here's what's pissing me off.  The articles of impeachment enumerate the charges against Paxton.  Much of this corrupt malfeasance was known a for YEARS, including in Paxton's first term as AG, yet the Republican Texas legislature ignored it.  They should all be criminally charged as well. 

So what I want to know is... what's about to blow? Why now? What are they trying to premptively manage?

[Xan]

2 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

So what I want to know is... what's about to blow? Why now? What are they trying to premptively manage?

I'm not sure.  One line of thought is that his fellow Republicans felt it was a bridge too far that he asked for taxpayer money to pay off his legal debts.  When he illegally fired people, they sued him and got (I think) a judgment of three million.  He wanted taxpayers to pay it.

Beyond that, my feeling is that he had been twisting too many arms for too many years and they felt this was a prime time to get rid of him.  I bet he was heavily into extortion.  And that mistress needing a job was not a good look either.  

Is there anything else in Texas that would make them look worse than they already look?

[Howl]

TexasTribune.org is an excellent source for the Paxton impeachment and all things Texas politics.  

On 5/27/2023 at 6:42 PM, GreyhoundFan said:

I didn't realize his wife is a state senator. It's insane that she is not required to recuse herself. 

Yes, and she's a state senator who tried to introduce legislation that would decriminalize the type of state securities fraud that Paxton was charged with in 2015. 

I came across a little more information on Paxton's mistress. Paxton asked Nate Paul, real estate investor at the center of the corruption case, to give the mistress, who lived in San Antonio,  a job in Austin, making it easier for Paxton to see her.  Paxton apparently bemoaned not being able to see her more TO HIS STAFF.  The mistress is still unnamed. 

Word on the street is that there will be huge pressure on Paxton to resign. The TX senate does not want a trial. First, a special session would have to be called.  Then,  dirty laundry that could implicate some TX senators and other powerful people would be aired in public. 

Before we celebrate Paxton's downfall, his mini-me (first assistant AG Brent Webster), will be acting AG. Gov.  Webster has his own controversial past in the AG's office. 

Texas Tribune: Lawyer currently leading Texas attorney general’s office has been swept up in Ken Paxton’s legal challenges  Brent Webster came to the Texas attorney general’s office in 2020. His work as Ken Paxton’s top aide was quickly mired in controversy.

<snip> "Webster faced a professional misconduct case brought by the State Bar of Texas for helping Paxton file a long-shot federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 election results in four battleground states that handed the White House to President Joe Biden.

The misconduct lawsuit accused Webster of being “dishonest” for misrepresenting allegations of voting improprieties in the legal challenge, which was ultimately tossed by the U.S. Supreme Court."

 

Edited May 29, 2023 by Howl

[GreyhoundFan]

Even though I know the Texas senate will probably not remove him, Paxton deserves to be in prison for a long time.

 

[Howl]

4 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Even though I know the Texas senate will probably not remove him, Paxton deserves to be in prison for a long time.

My opinion only: I don't think the Rs would have moved to impeach without sufficient votes to convict in the TX senate and also there will be tremendous pressure on Paxton to resign.  There are receipts for all of Paxton's corruption.  OTOH, Paxton has gotten away with so much for so long that he may feel invincible. 

Greg Abbott is hiding out in the Governor's Mansion or at an undisclosed location.  Haven't heard a peep from him.  Lt. Gov. Dan "Let the elderly die of Covid" has shut the f**k up for a change. 

Gleaned this information from  @clearing_fog on Twitter and the Texas Tribune reporting.   This is a summary to help organize my own mind. 

Paxton sworn in as TX AG in 2014, and is indicted for securities fraud in 2015 for  luring people in to invest in Servergy (tech company) without disclosing that he would personally profit. This case has dragged on for eight long years because trial venues change/judges change/payment disputes/who can donate to fund KP's legal fees, IF they can donate to fund his legal fees and so forth.  

So...State of Texas.  How did the Feds get involved?  Extremely condensed version:  In Oct, 2020, *seven* of Paxton’s top employees reported him to the FBI and became whistleblowers.

U.S. Attorney's office for the Western District of Texas includes San Antonio, Austin (where Paxton lives), Waco all the way over to El Paso, 580 miles away. There has been constant turnover in that office and until Feb 2021, the U.S. Attorney in West Texas was still a Trump/Barr appointee…Paxton, you'll recall, humped Trump by trying to overturn the election.

Moving right along

Biden nomination to that West TX U.S. Attorney's office was finally confirmed in Dec, 2022.  Feb. 2023, state prosecutors confirm that DOJ had taken over their criminal investigation into Paxton...and then recused themselves.  You may be asking yourself, "Self, WTAF?" 

A month after DOJ publicly took over the case (but before they recused?),  Paxton tried to settle with those high ranking whistleblowers to the tune of $3.3 million, and was even willing to *publicly apologize to them.*

THIS IS THE KEY ELEMENT, with information from the Texas Tribune's May 24, 2023 article: Investigators detail years of alleged misconduct by Texas AG Ken Paxton in stunning House committee hearing

The Texas House General Investigating Committee authorized a secret probe into Paxton's activities beginning in March of this year. 

Their inquiry focused first on a proposed $3.3 million agreement to settle a whistleblower lawsuit filed by four high-ranking deputies who were fired after accusing Paxton of accepting bribes and other misconduct.

Why is this important? 

Committee Chair Andrew Murr said the payout, which the Legislature would have to authorize, would also prevent a trial at which evidence of Paxton’s alleged misdeeds would be presented publicly. Committee members questioned, in essence, if lawmakers were being asked to participate in a cover-up.

The article was written before the impeachment vote;  the articles of impeachment lay it all out.

But what did Jaime Esparza, the current U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, have to say that put the fear of God into the Republican assholes in the Texas statehouse, made them do the right thing, and overcome their fear of Trump? I really want to know. 

Side note: One thing the Paxton is accused of that could really chafe the FBI's chaps is a misuse of public information charge, for "allegedly providing Paul with an internal FBI file related to an investigation into the developer." 

Also, buried in this avalanche of information are implications that:  Paxton's wife found out about the affair in (I think) 2019, Paxton went on hiatus but apparently picked it back up again in 2020. 

Also, there are vague allusions to Paxton giving the mistress a government job. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Howl]

On 5/27/2023 at 6:42 PM, GreyhoundFan said:

I didn't realize his wife is a state senator. It's insane that she is not required to recuse herself. Can you imagine if the impeached official had a "D" after his name instead of an "R"? Anyone who had ever spoken to said official, even to say good morning, would be required to recuse themselves.

Angela Paxton -- I'm wondering at this point if she and Ken have an "understanding" about his mistress.  The mistress thing is going to be front and center in the Senate trial and having to sit there and listen to it would be humiliating. Voting to kick him to the curb would be such sweet revenge, or would she be the ever faithful wife? Who knows, maybe she has a boy toy of her own on the side. 

Anyway, Holy Frijole Guacamole! Paxton had a sinking spell when he heard this.

Texas Tribune: House impeachment team taps 2 top Texas lawyers, Dick DeGuerin and Rusty Hardin, to lead Ken Paxton case

Legendary Texas lawyers Dick DeGuerin and Rusty Hardin will serve as lead prosecutors for the state House in the Senate impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The two Houston-based defense attorneys, introduced at a Capitol news conference Thursday, are legal icons in their own right, having separately represented a litany of high-profile athletes, celebrities and politicians in criminal and civil investigations.

“They are outstanding lawyers and lions of the Texas trial bar,” said David Coale, a Dallas-based appellate lawyer and legal commentator. “This is the legislature saying, ‘This isn’t just some case, this is an unusual, historic case.’ And if you want to make some history, you get some history book-level lawyers.”

 Don't know who Paxton has hired to defend him.  The lawyer fees alone might bankrupt him, so that's another reason for Paxton to resign. I'm also wondering if Paxton will ultimately face state and federal criminal charges based on what's been found by DoJ and the Texas House investigating committee. 

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by Howl

[Howl]

Holy guacamole!  Nate Paul, the real estate investor entangled with Ken Paxton, has been arrested in Austin, by the FBI on a Federal warrant, this may or may not be directly related to Ken Paxton.  Nate Paul was being investigated by the Feds for quite awhile, even before the Paxton scandal came to light. 

Nate Paul, Austin developer at center of Ken Paxton impeachment, arrested in Travis County   It is not immediately clear what Paul was charged with, but Travis County officials confirmed he was being held in the jail at the request of the FBI. Paxton’s deputies accused Paul of bribing the now-suspended attorney general in 2020.

<snip>

[Nate] Paul is at the center of the abuse-of-office complaints against Paxton, a three-term Republican attorney general who was impeached by the Texas House last month..

...in 2019, the FBI and U.S. Department of Treasury agents raided Paul’s home and business offices. Additionally, Paul filed for at least 18 bankruptcies. Soon after, Paul’s complicated history with Paxton came to light.

Before the FBI raid, Paul made a $25,000 political donation to Paxton in October 2018. Following the donation, multiple senior aides in Paxton’s office accused the attorney general of using his office to help Paul’s business interests, investigate Paul’s adversaries and to help settle a lawsuit. In filings, the former aides described Paxton’s motivations as a “bizarre, obsessive use of power.”