Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has earned a reputation as a reliable Republican partisan, which is why it came as something of a surprise this week when he targeted an ostensible ally. In fact, Paxton not only accused House Speaker Dade Phelan of being drunk during legislative proceedings, he called for the powerful GOP state lawmaker to resign.
There’s been a fair amount of speculation about what motivated the state attorney general, but given the timing of the circumstances, it appears likely that Paxton was trying to get out ahead of his own intensifying troubles. The Associated Press reported:
A Republican-led investigation on Wednesday accused Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of committing multiple crimes in office — including felonies — during an extraordinary public airing of scandal and alleged lawbreaking that plunged one of the GOP’s conservative stars into new political and legal risk.
For those who might benefit from a refresher, let’s revisit our earlier coverage and review how we arrived at this point.
By any fair measure, Texas’ Republican attorney general is one of the most scandal-plagued politicians in recent memory. Paxton was indicted by a grand jury, for example, over alleged securities fraud. The Texan is also facing a state bar investigation, which might lead to his disbarment. He’s also been credibly accused of overseeing a dysfunctional, incompetent, and politically weaponized office. A local district attorney’s office has also accused him of violating the state’s open records law.
Perhaps most important, though, is the fact that several top aides in the Texas attorney general’s office accused Paxton of corruption. After the allegations surfaced, the Republican fired or forced out several of the whistleblowers who hadn’t already resigned — leading to an out-of-court settlement that was announced earlier this year.
That case is currently the subject of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.
But officials in the…
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