Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been booked at a Dallas-area jail on felony charges alleging that he misled investors before becoming the state’s top lawyer.
The most serious of the three charges, securities fraud, stem from a Texas Rangers investigation into Paxton’s ties with Servergy Inc., a tech company based in the former state representative’s hometown of McKinney; Paxton reportedly owns some 10,000 shares in the company.
On Monday, Paxton was photographed and fingerprinted at Collin County jail, The Associated Press said.
That newly indicted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton may have broken securities law isn’t news to voters who elected him: Blistering TV attack ads during the 2014 elections reminded them that the Republican had already admitted that. “As a former judge, I recognize this is the first step in a lengthy process and will respect that process as it moves forward”. The tea party firebrand and GOP presidential hopeful praised Paxton last year as a “tireless conservative warrior”, but has said nothing publicly about the allegations against him.
In a statement released today, Craig McDonald of TPJ said, “The only acceptable response to Paxton’s indictment is his resignation”.
Ken Paxton is being charged with securities fraud.
When marriage equality became the law of the land in late June, Paxton told county clerks that could defy the Supreme Court and withhold marriage licenses for same-sex couples. “Under our Constitution, every person is innocent until proven guilty”, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in his statement. And both were allied with State Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, who is identified in the indictment as one of Paxton’s accusers. Though the prosecuting attorney Kent Schaffer stated that the actions were committed by Paxton before he won the current position and that he is likely to withhold from making any public comments until the matter is solved.
What Republicans are most afraid of is what U.S. Rep Joaquin Castro is pushing, the idea that continued Republican Party rule of Texas is leading to a “culture of corruption” in state government.
Just as Perry was allowed to finish his term after his indictment, Paxton can stay on the job while his criminal case proceeds.
“Republicans have known about Ken Paxton’s well-reported illegalities for more than a year – and did nothing”.
He is the second senior Texas official to be indicted while in office over the past year.
In other words, Paxton had a profit motive in persuading others to invest, yet he didn’t disclose his profit motive to clients. As attorney general, he can not objectively perform his duties to protect consumers from scammers when he himself ranks among those under criminal indictment for exactly that. Utah’s previous two attorneys generals were also arrested last summer on charges of running pay-to-play schemes during their combined 13 years in office.
