It’s fitting that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton led the “Lawyers for Trump” operation during the 2020 election cycle: Both Republicans have been caught up in so many scandals, it’s challenging to keep up with them all.
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. The Travis County district attorney has accused him of violating the state’s open records law. Paxton even reportedly fled from a process server last year.
But my personal favorite is the story about the state attorney general’s aides who accused him of criminal misconduct. As the Associated Press reported on Friday, the Texas Republican has reached a settlement with the former members of his own team.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has agreed to apologize and pay $3.3 million in taxpayer money to four former staffers who accused him of corruption in 2020, igniting an ongoing FBI investigation of the three-term Republican.
For those who might need a refresher, let’s revisit our earlier coverage and review how we arrived at this point.
In 2020, several top aides in the Texas attorney general’s office asked the FBI to investigate Paxton — their boss — over alleged criminal abuses. Soon after, he fired or forced out several of the whistleblowers who hadn’t already resigned.
Four of them sued, and while the new settlement agreement does not include an admission of wrongdoing, Paxton did agree to a public apology and a $3.3 million settlement — which will require approval by the GOP-controlled Texas legislature, because it includes taxpayer funds. As the AP’s report added, “Settlement of the case, which Paxton’s office fought in court for years, means he will avoid sitting for a civil deposition at a time when a corruption investigation by federal agents and prosecutors remains open.” In other words, Paxton will no longer have to worry about the civil litigation brought by former members of his team, but the broader set of investigations into his alleged misconduct are still ongoing. The Texas Republican, it’s worth noting for context, was re-elected last fall with roughly 53% of the vote. That’s up from his 2018 re-election race, when Paxton eked out a narrower victory with 50.6% of the vote.
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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