10.07.14
GOP AG Candidate Ken Paxton’s Legal Predicament, Will He Be indicted?
It’s a very real possibility that Texas GOP Attorney General nominee Ken Paxton will be indicted, whether he is elected or not. Via Gromer Jeffers.
In May, the Texas State Securities Board said Paxton violated state law by soliciting clients, for pay, for a company that dispenses investment advice even though he had not registered with the board. He was fined $1,000. It can be a crime, but Paxton describes it as an administrative error.
“We resolved the issue in the spring,” Paxton said in Allen. “They have been saying that [indictment was possible] ever since. I continue to work on my campaign. That’s something we took care of in the spring.”
But Paxton’s Democratic rival, Houston attorney Sam Houston, said the Republican is unfit for office, a mantra that Paxton’s GOP primary opponents also tried to trumpet. He and others say it’s possible that Paxton will face criminal charges.
“He admitted to committing a felony, and he may or may not be indicted,” Houston said. “He wants to be the state’s top law enforcement officer, and he broke the law. He needs to answer to it.”
[...]
Paxton said he’s not worried that his securities violation would derail or affect his role as attorney general.
But his critics predict, or hope, that his admission and regulatory fine to the Securities Board will prompt a criminal investigation.
Texans for Public Justice, a Democratic-leaning group that filed the complaint that led to the indictment of Texas Gov. Rick Perry on abuse of power charges, has also submitted a complaint against Paxton to the Travis County district attorney.
“It’s likely he did commit a felony,” said Craig McDonald, the group’s director. “Just because he entered into an agreement with regulator for a small fine and a slap on the wrist doesn’t exonerate him for the underlying crimes.”
Paxton said he hired a lawyer to help him settle the issue and hasn’t focused on it since the spring.
“Hypotheticals are tough for me. I’ve dealt with what I could deal with by resolving this in the spring,” he said of rumors about an indictment. “We wanted to make sure we were doing things legally correct, so we had a lawyer to resolve the issue. We have one ready, if anything does happen.”
McDonald conceded that filing a complaint against Paxton was a low priority for his organization. He said he did so because no other candidate or group stepped up.
“The agreement he signed in essence is a confession to breaking securities law,” he said “We were kind of surprised that no district attorney and no opponent, no one else, came forward to try to hold him accountable.”
Republican voters were unfazed by the incident. Paxton easily won a runoff against state Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, to take the GOP nomination.
The base of the GOP has no problem with their nominee being an admitted criminal. That’s interesting. Erica Grieder is thoroughly confused with Paxton’s statements about his illegal actions, An Update on the AG Race.
My second point of confusion is why Paxton’s presenting himself as the victim here. I get it, as a political gambit, but this is not, let’s say, an argument one would take to appellate court. The suggestion that Paxton could possibly face indictment over actions that violated the law and that he’s already admitted to isn’t a “narrative” being pushed by political rivals. It’s a factual comment about a possibility, a possiblity that Paxton himself acknowledged to Jeffers: “We have [a lawyer] ready, if anything does happen.” It’s arguably a possiblity that should concern Republicans more than Democrats; the last time I heard someone raise a concern about this, in fact, it was a conservative lawyer, and the concern was that the looming possibility of an indictment would potentially give the federal government leverage against the Texas attorney general. And for that matter Paxton’s actual political rival–the Democratic candidate for attorney general, Sam Houston–did tell Jeffers that Paxton might be indicted, but his main point was about the action itself, the failure to register as an investment advisor: “He wants to be the state’s top law enforcement officer, and he broke the law.” [Emphasis added]
The GOP always loves to play the victim. This sounds like nothing more than a politician spinning bad situation and hoping enough foolish voters will by his lame explanation. It’s no secret that Paxton’s hiding as much as he can during this campaign.. He’s still likely to win and that’s the truly sad part. It’s likely never been more true that the only reason Paxton has a chance is because he has an “R” next to his name.
His opponent, Democrat Sam Houston, will be is running to bring the Texas AG’s office back to doing what Texas need, and not just suing the federal government on behalf of campaign donors. Via Kuff’s interview with Sam Houston.
The stark contrast between Houston and his underqualified opponent has been noticed by the press, whose attentions Paxton has been diligently ducking ever since he secured the Republican nomination. Houston has been racking up the endorsements, and should have a clean sweep when all is said and done. He’ll be a breath of fresh air and a return to the original purpose of the office of Attorney General, which at one time represented the interests of the state of Texas and not just the Republican Party.
Listen to the entire interview here. Houston is obviously the best choice for Texas.