As a political matter, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has reason to be pleased with his current position. The Republican recently survived an impeachment trial; he’s successfully going after many of his perceived intraparty foes; he continues to enjoy Donald Trump’s backing; and there’s little to suggest that the prosecutor’s many scandals are adversely affecting his standing.
But politics aren’t Paxton’s only area of concern. After all, the Texan is also at the center of several legal controversies, one of which appears to have been resolved this week. NBC News reported:
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has agreed to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution, take legal ethics classes and complete 100 hours of community service as part of a deal to avoid a jury trial in his securities fraud case. … If Paxton completes the terms of the pretrial deal, prosecutors will dismiss the charges in 18 months.
For those who might benefit from a refresher, Paxton allegedly tried to solicit investors in a tech company several years ago without disclosing an important detail: Paxton was being paid to promote the company’s stock. This led to an investigation, and ultimately, an indictment: The Republican faced two counts of securities fraud and one count of failing to register with state securities regulators.
Each charge was a felony. In fact, a Texas Tribune report noted that Paxton “faced the prospect of decades in prison if he had been convicted of fraud. His status as a felon, based in part on an opinion he issued himself, would have likely barred him from running for office in the future.”
The trial was poised to begin next month. His agreement with prosecutors means the matter has been resolved.
Paxton will no doubt be pleased to have this matter behind him, but the state attorney general probably shouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet. These criminal allegations, for example, were distinct from the state bar investigation into Paxton’s ridiculous efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
What’s more, the Republican’s securities fraud allegations were also unrelated to the corruption allegations raised by leading top officials in Paxton’s office, which are currently the subject of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. The matter was also the subject of a state House investigation, which concluded that the state attorney general repeatedly broke the law by, among other things, abusing his office to hide an extramarital affair, doing special favors for a donor, and retaliating against perceived foes. The scandal led to Paxton’s impeachment, though he was acquitted by his partisan allies in the state Senate. All of which is to say, one of the Texas attorney general’s problems will soon be behind him, but plenty of other serious problems remain. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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