Pressure grows on Texas attorney general
GOP- led investigation accuses Republican Ken Paxton of crimes while in office, including felonies.
AUSTIN, Texas — A Republican- led investigation on Wednesday accused Texas Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton of committing multiple crimes in office — including felonies — during an extraordinary public airing of scandal and alleged lawbreaking that plunged one of the GOP’s conservative stars into new political and legal risk.
For more than three hours, investigators presented findings alleging that Paxton sought to hide an extramarital affair, misused his office to help a donor, skirted protocols “grossly outside” norms and built a culture of fear and retaliation in his office. Investigators told the GOP- led House General Investigating Committee that there was evidence that Paxton repeatedly broke the law, including by misusing official information, abusing his official capacity and retaliation.
The dramatic turn of events in the Texas Capitol present a new test of Paxton’s durability in a way the hard- right politician has not previously confronted despite a felony indictment in 2015 and an ongoing FBI investigation. The House committee’s investigation has been quietly going on for months and did not come to light until Tuesday.
The committee ended Wednesday’s hearing without acting on the f indings. The panel is led by Republican state Rep. Andrew Murr, who afterward declined to discuss next steps or whether a recommendation to impeach or censure Paxton was possible.
The hearing began as Paxton sought legislative approval for more than $ 3 million in taxpayer dollars to settle a whistleblower lawsuit brought by top aides who accused him of corruption. Republican House leaders have signaled unease with approving the payout. The legislative session ends Monday.
The forum amounted to a remarkable rebuke from Republicans in a building where Paxton has long maintained defenders and allies, including GOP Gov. Greg Abbott, who lauded Paxton while swearing him in to a third term in January.
Paxton called the investigators’ testimony “false,” accused the committee of misleading the public and attacked Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan as a “liberal.” Paxton also has claimed repeatedly since the investigation was revealed Tuesday that Phelan has been drunk on the job, something Phelan’s office has brushed off as an attempt by Paxton to “save face.”
Accusations laid out by investigators surround actions by Paxton that previously have been uncovered by reporters or disclosed in court records.
Despite the cloud that has hung over Paxton for years, he has remained popular with GOP voters in Texas and elevated his prof ile nationally through lawsuits against President Biden’s administration and through his defense of former President Trump.
Paxton’s former staff members reported him to the FBI in 2020 on accusations of breaking the law to help a campaign contributor. The donor, Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, employed a woman with whom Paxton acknowledged having had an affair. In February, the U. S. Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section took over the federal criminal investigation of Paxton.