Texas AG Ken Paxton's Impeachment and Other Criminal Investigations

[China]

 

 

On 9/1/2023 at 12:06 AM, China said:

 

On brand, Paxton's PAC threatens the senators that could impeach him:

 

Pressure intensifies on Texas senators ahead of Paxton trial

 

Pressure is intensifying to sway public opinion on suspended-Attorney General Ken Paxton. While television ads and social media posts are pushed out, it is notable that much of the pressure mounts on Texas senators.

 

Senators who will act as jurors in the impeachment trial of the attorney general are being lobbied and targeted by political groups.

 

“Anyone that votes against Ken Paxton in this impeachment is risking their entire political career and we will make sure that is the case,” Jonathan Stickland, president of the pro-Paxton Defend Texas Liberty PAC, said recent in a media appearance.

 

Echoing similar statements is director of the same PAC, Luke Macias, who spoke with WFAA this week.

 

“I think republican politicians who decide to vote with the democrats are going to be seen as such,” Macias said.

 

Paxton, a Republican, is in his third term as attorney general. Macias said voters have kept Paxton in office because they like the job he is doing and, a representatives, it is a senators’ job to listen to their constituents.

 

“We’re having conversations with Texans all across the state, millions of republican voters, who are then in turn reaching out to their senators and telling them: ‘hey, I voted for you and I voted to Ken Paxton. I would like both of you to remain in office. Please respect that decision,” Macias said.

 

The trial of Texas’ top legal official is scheduled to start Tuesday, September 5. It comes after the Texas House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to impeach Paxton in May.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Paxton is a turd that needs to be flushed.

 

On 9/4/2023 at 12:41 AM, China said:

 

Political fallout from Ken Paxton's impeachment

 

Ken Paxton's impeachment trial hasn't started yet, but there is already political fallout. Not just for the attorney general, but for other Republican leaders and lawmakers as well.   

 

When House members first heard details of the 20 articles of impeachment against Attorney General Paxton, Republican Texas Rep. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth dropped a bombshell: 

 

"I would like to point out that several members of this House while on the floor of the House doing state business, received telephone calls from General Paxton personally threatening them with political consequences in their next election."

 

Geren didn't identify the lawmakers he accused Paxton of making the threats. The attorney general's office didn't respond to our email requesting comment. 

 

But text messages obtained by CBS News Texas between Michelle Smith, one of Paxton's assistants at the Office of the Attorney General, and Republican Texas Rep. Jeff Leach of Allen, show there were hard feelings over this matter. 

 

Back in February, when Paxton asked state lawmakers to fund the $3.3 million settlement with four whistleblowers he fired, Leach told reporters he was troubled by it and wanted a hearing. 

 

In a text message to Smith, Leach said: 

 

"I won't be talked out of doing my job and fulfilling my oath."

 

In text messages back to Leach, Smith replied: 

 

"I stood in 108 degree weather to get you elected. Never forget that. You want to go against me go ahead."

 

It was Paxton's request for money to settle the whistleblower lawsuit, House members say, that led to their investigation and the impeachment.  

 

Some of Paxton's supporter's are targeting Republican House members who voted to impeach the attorney general.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Starting this thread so we can all follow along and point and jeer in one place.

 

Here's a link to Day 4 of his live impeachment inquiry:

 

 

[China]

FYI, he's under investigation by the DOJ as well:

 

D.C.-based DOJ investigators take over corruption probe into Attorney General Ken Paxton

 

Justice Department officials in Washington, D.C., are taking over the corruption investigation into Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after the U.S. attorney’s office in San Antonio was recused from the probe.

 

Prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office had led the investigation since October 2020 into allegations of whether Paxton had abused his office, state prosecutors said.

 

The Washington-based investigators will now look into allegations made by Paxton’s former top deputies that the attorney general took bribes to benefit a political donor who also employed a woman with whom Paxton was alleged to have had an extramarital affair. The latest news was made public less than one week after Paxton agreed to apologize and pay $3.3 million in taxpayer money to settle a whistleblower lawsuit with four of the employees who accused him of crimes. The settlement still needs court and legislative approval.

 

State prosecutors Brian Wice and Kent Schaffer, who are handling a separate securities fraud case against Paxton, said in a statement that they were notified Thursday that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas had been recused from the case by the Justice Department. The probe will now be handled by the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, which prosecutes allegations of misconduct against local, state and federal elected officials. Wice and Schaffer referred all other questions to the Justice Department.

 

The Associated Press, which first reported the news, said the move was pushed by Paxton’s defense team. One of Paxton’s attorneys, Dan Cogdell, told the Associated Press he’d wanted the case out of the hands of prosecutors from the Western District because they had “an obvious conflict” but that he had not been notified of the move. Cogdell did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Texas Tribune.

 

The announcement is the first public indication since Paxton’s decision to settle the whistleblower lawsuit that the investigation continues. It’s unclear whether Paxton will face charges. He has denied wrongdoing.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Not to mention his securities fraud trial:

 

Texas court allows AG Ken Paxton’s securities fraud trial to move to Houston

 

Embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s long-delayed trial on securities fraud charges from 2015 will take place in Houston, a court ruled Wednesday, dealing the Republican another setback as he awaits a separate impeachment trial.

 

It remains unclear, however, when Paxton might finally have his day in court on felony charges of defrauding investors in a tech startup.

 

For now, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld a decision by a judge who originally oversaw the case to move the proceedings out of Paxton’s hometown near Dallas. Paxton has spent years fighting to keep the trial in Collin County, where he maintains wide support among GOP activists and his wife, Angela Paxton, is a state senator.

 

The ruling by Texas’ highest criminal court comes as Paxton faces removal from office following his historic impeachment by the state House in May. A trial in the Texas Senate is set to begin no later than August.

 

The case is among the 20 articles of impeachment that the Texas House of Representatives brought against the state’s top lawyer. Other impeachment charges surround Paxton’s relationship with Nate Paul, an Austin real estate developer who has been indicted on charges of making false statements to banks to obtain more than $170 million in loans.

 

If convicted of the securities fraud charges, Paxton faces up to 99 years in prison.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

 

[China]

 

[China]

 

[China]

I wonder how soon after closing arguments they will vote?

 

 

[Larry]

I'd bet a large chunk of money that every single person already decided how they're voting after carefully studying the polling after hearing the witnesses. 

[LadySkinsFan]

Vote today I bet. And he stays. Because they're Fascists and he's a good one.

 

 

Edited September 15, 2023 by LadySkinsFan

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[LadySkinsFan]

And the Fascists in control of Texas win again. 

[Fan since a Fetus]

This was as expected

[Fergasun]

Wonder if his wife is going to stand by him. 

 

She didn't get to vote....

[China]

I guess now it's up to DOJ to make him be accountable for his corruption

[TheGreatBuzz]

1 hour ago, Fan since a Fetus said:

This was as expected

 

Not really.  The fact that they didn't dismiss at the outset made a lot of people expect that they were going to convict.  Because all they did here was air their dirty laundry, then vote to let it go.

[Larry]

9 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

 

Not really.  The fact that they didn't dismiss at the outset made a lot of people expect that they were going to convict.  Because all they did here was air their dirty laundry, then vote to let it go that as long as you're a Republican, you are immune from punishment  

FTFY

[China]

[Fan since a Fetus]

7 hours ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

 

Not really.  The fact that they didn't dismiss at the outset made a lot of people expect that they were going to convict.  Because all they did here was air their dirty laundry, then vote to let it go.

I really didn’t think they would convict one of their own. I was hopeful, but didn’t think it would happen. He has gotten a couple extra terms here after the securities fraud case was brought forth. That was 2015 and there still isn’t a date in the hearing although that is supposedly coming soon. 
 

Now, if you told me that he cost all of the other Republicans here money in any way, then yeah, I think they would get rid of him.

 

The way I see it anymore is if those in power want to keep their power, they don’t go after colleagues money. If they do, that is when something will happen to them. Like Dan Snyder. Everything was just fine until the owners found out he was keeping money from them.
 

These rich folk and politicians all stick together. The only way they turn on you is over money. You can kill, cheat, and steal from the little guy, just don’t cheat and steal from people your own size. 

[The 12th Commandment]

Feckless ****s.

[Simmsy]

Its what Texas wants, at some point, you have to stop feeling bad for them.

[Fan since a Fetus]

On 9/17/2023 at 9:50 AM, Simmsy said:

Its what Texas wants, at some point, you have to stop feeling bad for them.

Texas is gerrymandered all to hell. not everyone want this. Even when democratic leaders are elected, the republicans send their own people to look over the Dems and basically make their jobs pointless.

 

Texas will never see a democrat get in office here at the state level, no matter how many times people ask if this is the year Texas goes blue.

 

 The only way that will be possible is if there ends up being a popular vote. That will never happen though.

Edited October 24, 2023 by Fan since a Fetus

[PokerPacker]

11 minutes ago, Fan since a Fetus said:

This place is gerrymandered all to hell. not all of us want this. Even when we elect democratic leaders for our county or city, the republicans send their own people to look over the Dems and basically make their jobs pointless.

 

Ill never see a democrat get in office here at the state level, no matter how many times people ask if this is the year Texas goes blue.

 

 The only way that will be possible is if there ends up being a popular vote. That will never happen though.

 Yeah, the people I met in Austin and San Antonio during my time there did not at all share the state's politics..

[Fan since a Fetus]

50 minutes ago, PokerPacker said:

 Yeah, the people I met in Austin and San Antonio during my time there did not at all share the state's politics..

Most of the people I know here are liberal. Of course, if you’re liberal you’re more likely to have liberal friends.

 

I do know a few people that are conservatives, but they aren’t part of the MAGA crowd. They’re actually nice people with conservatives values. 

[PokerPacker]

19 minutes ago, Fan since a Fetus said:

Most of the people I know here are liberal. Of course, if you’re liberal you’re more likely to have liberal friends.

 

I do know a few people that are conservatives, but they aren’t part of the MAGA crowd. They’re actually nice people with conservatives values. 

I'm not talking friends (I only lived there for a year) so much as just random people I'd come across.  Co-workers, hockey teammates, man running a gift-shop at The Alamo, etc..

 

Granted, there were also some old cowboys I'd overheard at a Mexican restaurant wishing for Washington D.C. to get nuked.