Paxton’s ability to lead AG’s office is irretrievably compromised

Texans have been abundantly patient with Ken Paxton since he was elected Texas attorney general in 2014.

Consider the evidence: Paxton was indicted within months of being sworn in as the state’s top law enforcement official, charged with securities fraud and failure to register with the state securities board, both felonies. He declared himself the victim in that situation and sought re-election while still under indictment. And, along the way, he’s proved himself to be a pugilistic political partisan, leading — among other things — the lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act that will reach the Supreme Court next month.

Granted, many Texans took a dim view of all this; Paxton won re-election in a squeaker, edging the little-known yet well-regarded Democratic candidate, attorney Justin Nelson, by less than 4 points that year. And yet Paxton has soldiered on, routinely filing lawsuits dealing with hot-button social issues or challenging the authority of local officials who want to encourage more voter participation, all the while under his own legal cloud. Clearly, that should change. In fact, Paxton should have resigned already in the wake of a bombshell report from the Austin American-Statesman last week laying out seven former and current top aides have accused him of abuse of office and bribery, among other potential crimes.

The fact that he hasn’t resigned tells you pretty much all you need to know about Paxton. (He has maintained he is innocent.)

And the fact that Paxton isn’t expected to resign reflects terribly on the Republican Party of Texas, whose leaders are reluctant, even now, to come out and condemn his questionable conduct.

The scandal currently surrounding Paxton is a doozy. On Friday, seven of Paxton’s top aides sent a letter to the agency’s human resources department, explaining that they had already contacted “appropriate law en

forcement” to call for an investigation of Paxton.

“We have a good faith belief that the attorney general is violating federal and/or state law including prohibitions related to improper influence, abuse of office, bribery and other potential criminal offenses,” they wrote in the letter, which noted that they had also informed Paxton of their concerns via text message.

In that text message, which was obtained by Hearst Newspapers, Paxton’ first assistant, Jeff Mateer, explained that he and the other six aides had “made a good faith report of violations by you to an appropriate law enforcement authority concerning your relationship and activities with Nate Paul” — an Austin-based real estate investor who donated $25,000 to Paxton’s 2018 reelection bid.

Paul, according to the Houston Chronicle’s reporting, came under scrutiny himself and found Paxton willing to give him a sympathetic hearing: the attorney general appointed Houston lawyer Brandon Cammock as a special prosecutor, and Cammock last week issued grand jury subpoenas targeting Paul’s “adversaries,” according to a senior official at the agency.

Mateer resigned on Friday. The other six aides — Mateer’s deputy Ryan Bangert, as well as deputy attorneys general James Blake Brickman, Lacey Mase, Darren McCarty, Mark Penley and Ryan Vassar — remain at the agency.

Paxton has responded to all of this defiantly, dismissing the aides — again, his own top aides and all of them political appointees affiliated with the conservative wing of the GOP — as dishonest actors.

“Despite the effort by rogue employees and their false allegations I will continue to seek justice in Texas and will not be resigning,” he said in a statement.

Some Texans might find that persuasive.

Most wouldn’t.

Paxton, to be clear, has not been convicted of any crimes. As noted, however, he has been under indictment since 2015.

He has also been accused of a variety of petty yet revealing misdeeds over the years. In 2014, he was forced to return a Montblanc pen worth $1,000 to a fellow attorney who had left it in the security bins at the entrance to the Collin County courthouse. Paxton, then a state representative, was identified on security footage as the person who pocketed the refined pen. (He has long maintained that it was an innocent error.)

Paxton’s fellow Republicans have mostly turned a blind eye to such shenanigans. According to Mark P. Jones of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, that may have given the attorney general a false sense of security.

“Since Paxton has been successful in avoiding consequences for his alleged security fraud for a half dozen years, I suspect in the back of his mind hemay think he can also dodge the bullet this time around,” Jones toldme. “Also, he may hope to use his resignation, perhaps the only leverage he still has, to try and negotiate some type of benefits, although I doubt Gov. (Greg) Abbott, Lt. Gov. (Dan) Patrick or anyone else are much in the mood to negotiate.”

Jones added that Paxton could also be impeached by the Texas Legislature, which convenes for its next regular session in January.

Abbott and Patrick do seem to be tired of defending Paxton. .

“These allegations raise serious concerns,” said the governor, a fellow Republican, in a statement. “I will withhold further comment until the results of any investigation are complete.”

But such expressions of concern aren’t going to cut it. Even if Paxton is innocent of these new allegations — and of the charges filed against him five years ago, which have yet to be addressed in court amid squabbling over legal fees and whether the case should be sent to his home Collin County — he is no longer capable of credibly running the agency.

Some Republican lawmakers have had the courage to say so.

“Although innocent until proven guilty, AG Paxton has been under indictment for the past five years. With these new allegations of bribery and abuse of office, Paxton needs to quickly address these allegations or resign so he can devote his time to his own personal legal matters,” said state Rep. Sarah Davis, a Houston Republican.

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, who represents the 21st Congressional District in Central Texas and previously served as Paxton’s first assistant, issued a statement calling on Paxton to resign, saying that his attacks on his own aides are unwarranted and preclude the possibility of any other resolution.

“The work of the Office of the Attorney General of Texas is too critical to the state and her people to leave in chaos and to risk the work of over 700 lawyers managing almost 30,000 legal cases at any given moment, including major cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as processing over $4 billion in child support,” Roy said.

“The attorney general deserves his days in court, but the people of Texas deserve a fully functioning AG’s office,” he added.

Davis and Roy are right. That the state’s chief legal officer clings to power five years after he was first indicted and amid a mutiny from his top aides is absurd.

Paxton should resign, for the good of his party, his state and the agency he leads.

Texans frankly deserve better.