Washington Post: 7 years later, still no trial for Ken Paxton
AUSTIN, Texas — Not many people charged with felony crimes go seven
years without ever standing trial. One of them is Texas Attorney General
Ken Paxton.
The Harris County judge overseeing the criminal prosecution of Attorney General Ken Paxton has agreed to postpone the trial, most recently scheduled for December 11, to sometime in 2018.
Lawyers for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will argue Friday morning in a Sherman courtroom that the federal civil fraud case against him should be dismissed, their latest effort to unwind the legal troubles that have dogged Paxton for more than a year.
Paxton Uses "Gift Loophole" to Pay His Defense Team
Ken Paxton is using a loophole in the state anti-bribery laws to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay his criminal defense lawyers.
Read details from the Texas Tribune.
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Paxton Criminal Appeal Rejected
The Dallas-based 5th Court of Appeals refused to toss the three felony-fraud indictments hanging over the head of Attorney General Ken Paxton. The June 1 ruling was authored by Chief Justice Carolyn Wright. Paxton's spokesperson said they are considering an appeal of the ruling before the state's highest criminal court. Along with the state charges Paxton also faces federal fraud charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 5th Court of Appeals ruling is linked here.
Thursday, May 12, 2016
TPJ Statement on Paxton Appeal Hearing
Statement of Andrew Wheat, TPJ Research Director:
"In asking Republican appeals judges to dismiss his criminal charges
without a trial, Paxton invokes those recent precedents of Republican
appellate judges dismissing corruption cases against their party’s
leaders. Let's hope these judges can exercise some judicial restraint and allow these felony charges to be tried in an open court."
Monday, May 2, 2016
Are Big Donors Abandoning Attorney General Ken Paxton?
By TPJ's Andrew Wheat, Texas Observer, April 29, 2016
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s prodigious political fundraising plummeted after his criminal indictments in the summer of 2015. This could suggest that some donors are quietly rethinking their support of the embroiled attorney general, even as top GOP leaders have refrained from commenting on the plight of
Paxton — a headliner at the Texas GOP Convention that opens in Dallas
in May. (Read more).
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Lobby Watch: Socialized Medicine for GOP Functionary
The top Paxton aide who secretly arranged to stay on the state
payroll while running a Cruz PAC spent recent years fighting the twin
evils of Obamacare and his own cancer. It
takes a special kind of person to simultaneously struggle to secure
taxpayer-funded health benefits for himself while fighting to deny such
benefits to millions of others.
"It is now Attorney General Paxton's full-time job to defend himself from
an avalanche of serious civil and criminal charges. Texas needs an attorney
general who can aggressively pursue wrongdoing--not just defend himself
from it. Paxton's greatest service to this state would be his
resignation."
From the Houston Chronicle:
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday filed
civil charges in federal court against Texas Attorney General Ken
Paxton, alleging that he recruited investors for a company without
disclosing that he was being compensated to promote the company's stock. The charges, which were filed in a Sherman-based court, allege that Paxton raised
$840,000 in investor funds for Servergy, Inc., and received 100,000
shares of stock in return.
Charges were also filed against Servergy and former company officials
William E. Mapp III and Caleb White. As of Monday, Servergy and White
had settled their cases, according to the SEC.
Friday, January 29, 2016
Ethics Opinion May Allow Paxton to Use Donations for Legal Bills
The Texas Ethics Commission is considering the adoption of a legal opinion clearing the way for indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton to use unlimited donations to pay for his criminal defense.
"Texas’s top lawman is an admitted lawbreaker. Attorney General Ken Paxton has engaged in fraud and outright deception to personally profit at the expense of others.
Paxton will be dogged by a cloud of corruption and felony charges into the foreseeable future. Paxton must step aside now to preserve dignity and trust in the Office of Attorney General.
The only ethical path for Ken Paxton is resignation. The state's highest law enforcement officer must be held to the highest standards. - Craig McDonald, director, Texans for Public Justice.”
Monday, August 17, 2015
The Paxton Indictments: Background & Timeline
TPJ has prepared a background memo and timeline on the Paxton indictments.
McKINNEY,
Tex. — When Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas was booked at the county jail here Monday on felony fraud
charges, he joined some pretty high-powered company, including Tom DeLay, the
former House majority leader, and former Gov. Rick Perry, as powerful Texas
officials indicted while in office over the last decade.
The three had something else in common: a former Michigan
community organizer named Craig McDonald. The cases leading to the indictments,
Mr. DeLay’s in 2005 and Mr. Perry’s in 2014, started with the low-budget,
nonprofit government watchdog group Mr. McDonald runs out of a basement office
in Austin, with 30-year-old furniture and few frills. (Read more.)
Watchdog makes big waves with small resources By Peggy Fikac August 9, 2015
AUSTIN — Attorney General Ken Paxton and former Gov. Rick Perry may have a long legal slog ahead as they battle their indictments. But Craig McDonald, whose watchdog group filed the criminal complaints that spurred both cases, isn’t saying where he thinks their road should end. The job he sees for himself with regard to their cases was all but over when the indictments were delivered. Read the full profile.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Statement on AG Ken Paxton criminal investigation
Craig McDonald Statement
on Criminal Investigation of Texas AG Ken Paxton
"Texans need to know if the state's top law enforcement officer committed
serious crimes. No public official--no matter how powerful--is above the
law. The integrity of the legal system is at stake. For months Attorney General Paxton
has suggested that his admitted securities law violations merit nothing more
than a slap on the wrist. Now a special prosecutor says that he will
present a grand jury with evidence that Paxton's alleged securities fraud
constitute a first-degree felony. It's time to determine in a court of law
if Attorney General Paxton violated the very state laws that he is supposed to
uphold and defend."
Last July Texans for Public Justice filed a
formal complaintwith the Travis County District Attorney, seeking to determine
if there was evidence to charge Ken Paxton with state securities law violations.
That district attorney forwarded the complaint to Collin County District
Attorney Greg Willis, where the alleged crimes occurred. Willis, a longtime
friend and business partner of Paxton, recused himself, leading to the
appointment of the special prosecutors who now are preparing to present their
findings to grand jury.
The Harris County judge overseeing the criminal prosecution of Attorney General Ken Paxton has agreed to postpone the trial, most recently scheduled for December 11, to sometime in 2018.
McKINNEY,
Tex. — When Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas was booked at the county jail here Monday on felony fraud
charges, he joined some pretty high-powered company, including Tom DeLay, the
former House majority leader, and former Gov. Rick Perry, as powerful Texas
officials indicted while in office over the last decade.
