With his rise to the presidency, criminal conman Donald Trump inaugurated a nrew era of right-wing corruption. It would appear to be an ideal environment for elevating another corrupt politician, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, to the U.S. Senate. He’ll be facing Democrat James Talarico in November, and the rest of teh country will find out just how much criminality and corruption Texas voters can tolerate from their leaders.
Here’s his (alleged) rap sheet:
1. Indicted but never tried on three felony indictments for security fraud from 2015.
“The charges—first brought by a Collin County grand jury in 2015—accused Paxton of failing to properly disclose financial ties to a tech firm while soliciting investors. But over the next nine years, the case became mired in delays, venue changes, and disputes over special prosecutor compensation. In March 2024, Paxton and prosecutors reached a pretrial diversion agreement to cancel the upcoming trial. Under its terms, Paxton completed over 100 hours of community service, 30 hours of ethics training, and paid full restitution—reportedly around $300,000—to the alleged victims.”
2. In 2016, Paxton also faced a civil case based on similar allegations from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
” A federal judge [in March 2017] dismissed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for the second and final time.”
3. In 2020, a group of top Paxton deputies reported him to the FBI, voicing concern that he was abusing his office to help an Austin real estate investor and political donor, Nate Paul.
“Some of the Paxton employees resigned, but four were fired and later sued Paxton under the Texas Whistleblower Act.”
“The claims by the whistleblowers were central to the Texas House’s decision to impeach Paxton in 2023. The vote was overwhelmingly bipartisan and posed a dire threat to Paxton’s political career because the state Senate could remove him from office by convicting him. But after a two-week trial, the Senate acquitted him of all 16 articles of impeachment accusing him of corruption and bribery. Only two members of the GOP majority voted in favor of convicting him of any of the articles. Trump openly pressured senators to let Paxton off the hook and repeatedly attacked the Republican House speaker who oversaw the impeachment.
“Attorney General Ken Paxton’s alleged extramarital affair came up for the first time at length Monday in his impeachment trial.
Katherine “Missy” Cary, the former chief of staff in the attorney general’s office, testified how she came to learn about the affair and how Paxton ultimately confessed to it. But perhaps most relevant to the case, Cary testified how she warned Paxton it could make him vulnerable to bribery, an allegation central to his impeachment. The dramatic testimony came as Paxton’s wife, Sen. Angela Paxton, listened on from the Senate floor.”
