Paxton Dodges Criminal Trial with Deal
that Includes Community Service at Home
Capitol Inside
March 26, 2024
Attorney General Ken Paxton could be stabbing trash on the side of the highway in Collin County after cutting a deal on Tuesday that avoided a trial on securities fraud charges in a move that put the criminal case against him to rest nearly a full decade after its conception.
The state lawyer who survived an attempted impeachment at the Texas Capitol last year agreed to pony up $300,000 for restitution as part of a plea bargain arrangement with prosecutors that also will force him to take 15 hours of legal education while devoting 100 hours of his time for community service.
Paxton won the AG's post initially in 2014 before he was indicted several months later in the suburban county that he'd represented in the Texas House and Senate before setting his sights statewide. Paxton was the target for the Federal Bureau of Investigation probe during that stretch after a cadre of former assistants accused him of taking bribes from a donor in a scheme that revolved on an alleged mistress.
When the FBI inquiry appeared to stall, Texas House GOP leaders decided to revive it with a secret investigation that culminated in a vote for Paxton's impeachment last spring on the final weekend of the regular session. The House voted to impeach the three-time elected attorney general on a vote of 121-23.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick used the incident as a stage for a free shot at Phelan - attempting to tie the Paxton agreement with prosecutors to the unsuccessful House bid to impeach the AG last year.
"The political hit squad in the Texas House failed again in their persecution of @KenPaxtonTX," Patricjk said in a post on X on Tuesday. "The failed impeachment instigated by @DadePhelan backfired. It seems that Dade wound up impeaching himself and several of his top House lieutenants and the voters in his own district have found him guilty."
Patrick is trying to knock the speaker off in a primary runoff election with challenger David Covey. But the voters in House District 21 have not found Phelan guilty of anything at this point - and he's predicted that he will win in overtime on May 28.
more to come ... |
