It’s no secret that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been caught up in a series of scandals, but for now, let’s put aside the fact that the Republican was indicted by a grand jury over alleged securities fraud. Let’s also briefly overlook the state bar investigation that might lead to his disbarment.
While we’re at it, let’s also put aside the fact that he’s been credibly accused of overseeing a dysfunctional and politically weaponized office. We can even briefly look past the Travis County district attorney’s office accusing him of violating Texas’ open records law.
Let’s instead focus our attention on the most devastating of Paxton’s scandals: The fact that several top aides in the Texas attorney general’s office accused him of corruption.
After the allegations surfaced, the Republican fired or forced out several of the whistleblowers who hadn’t already resigned. This was soon followed by a civil case brought by Paxton’s former deputies, which appears to have been resolved in an out-of-court settlement that was announced last week.
But what about the underlying corruption allegations themselves? The Associated Press reported overnight:
Justice Department officials in Washington have taken over the corruption investigation into Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, removing the case from the hands of the federal prosecutors in Texas who’d long been leading the probe. The move was disclosed in a statement by state prosecutors handling their own case against Paxton.
The AP report noted that the matter will now be handled by the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, which prosecutes allegations of official misconduct against elected officials at the local, state and federal level.
What’s more, the same AP piece added, “It’s not known whether Paxton will face charges, although federal investigators in Texas who had worked the case believed there was sufficient evidence for an indictment, according to two people familiar with…
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