A top Republican calls out Paxton at last
John Cornyn couldn’t ignore Ken Paxton anymore.
We’ve waited seven long years for somebody at the top of the Texas GOP to tell us how they really feel about Paxton’s shameful tenure as attorney general and his uncanny ability to avoid trial on a federal securities fraud indictment handed down way back in 2015.
In a phone call with reporters Thursday, Cornyn, Texas’ senior U.S. senator and a former state attorney general himself, decided to finally say the quiet part out loud.
“This is the chief law enforcement officer of the state of Texas, and it’s a source of embarrassment to me that that has been unresolved,” Cornyn said..
Most officeholders refrain from taking sides in party primaries, and Cornyn isn’t going so far as to endorse Paxton’s GOP opponent, Land Commissioner George P. Bush, but we’re glad to see the senator weigh in nonetheless. He’s saying what many frustrated Texans — those who still respect law and order — have been saying for a long time. We just wish he’d spoken up sooner, perhaps before the March 1 primary that ended in a two-way runoff between Paxton and Bush. We still believe former Supreme Court justice Eva Guzman was the best candidate of the bunch.
Quibbles about timing aside, Cornyn’s stature within the Texas GOP, and as a respected former Texas AG and Texas Supreme Court justice, gives his words strong credibility. It must have been painful watching Paxton make a mockery of his former office for years.
Paxton’s indictment, seven months after he was sworn in, was only the beginning of his legal troubles. Seven of his top staff members have credibly accused him of taking bribes. The FBI is investigating him for allegations of misconduct and misusing his office. He’s been accused of violating the same Texas open records laws his office is duty-bound to enforce. And he’s wasted more than $2 million in taxpayer dollars in a quixotic fishing expedition for election fraud. He’s pushed the Big Lie about the 2020 election to absurd lengths, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate election results in four key states to keep Donald Trump in the White House. His role in that baseless lawsuit, which the high court quickly dismissed, has now led the State Bar of Texas to sue Paxton for professional misconduct.
Paxton maintains his innocence and accuses nearly all his foes, including the state bar, of playing politics. What else can he say? The evidence is mounting, with no end in sight.
Yet, it appears many Texas Republican voters are ready to ignore Paxton’s legal woes. Maybe that’s due in part because so few leaders in their party have called him out. Even Gov. Greg Abbott, also a former Texas attorney general who had the faint courage in October 2020 to say the whistleblower allegations against Paxton raised “serious concerns,” has since capitulated. Last month, he joined fellow Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in urging the Texas Supreme Court to take up Paxton’s appeal to throw out the whistleblower lawsuit.
Paxton’s bid for a third term as Texas attorney general is a disgrace to his party, an affront to the rule of law, and yes, a constant and painful embarrassment to all Texans.
Thank you, Senator Cornyn, for saying so.