Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, facing accusations of criminal conduct from top aides, has dismissed the allegations as false and called his accusers “rogue employees.”
He said that he would not resign, according to a statement released by his office this afternoon.
The Austin American-Statesman reported Saturday night that seven top aides of Paxton have accused him of abuse of office, improper influence, bribery, and potentially other state and/or federal crimes. They have reported him to “an appropriate law enforcement authority.”
The seven agency officials, including First Assistant Attorney General Jeff Mateer and six deputy attorneys general, informed Paxton by text message on Thursday, Oct. 1, that they had reported him to law enforcement. They requested a meeting with Paxton that day in an eighth-floor conference room in the AG’s downtown office, presumably to demand his resignation.
Paxton declined the meeting, saying he was out of the office and would address any concerns by email. Mateer resigned his position the next day, Friday, and news of the allegations against Paxton broke Saturday night.
According to Tony Plohetski of the Statesman, one of two reporters who broke the story, the allegations against Paxton stem from his relationship to Nate Paul, CEO of an Austin real estate firm, whose offices were raided by the FBI in August 2019.
Paul had given $25,000 to Paxton’s reelection campaign in 2018.
Today, October 5, Paxton released the following statement regarding the allegations:
“The Texas attorney general’s office was referred a case from Travis county regarding allegations of crimes relating to the FBI, other government agencies and individuals. My obligation as attorney general is to conduct an investigation upon such referral. Because employees from my office impeded the investigation and because I knew Nate Paul I ultimately decided to hire an outside independent prosecutor to make his own independent determination.”
“Despite the effort by rogue employees and their false allegations I will continue to seek justice in Texas and will not be resigning.”
That statement comes after U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, Paxton’s former chief deputy, called for his resignation. Roy wrote on Facebook that the allegations against Paxton were “more than troubling on the merits,” adding that it was even more disturbing that Paxton would “attack the very people entrusted, by him, to lead the office – some of whom I know well and whose character are beyond reproach.”
Roy likely was referring to the fact that Paxton over the weekend told media outlets that he was only being accused because employees of his office were themselves subject to an “ongoing investigation into criminal wrongdoing.”
The lawmaker continued, “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.”
“The Attorney General deserves his days in court, but the people of Texas deserve a fully functioning AG’s office.”
Paxton’s decision not to resign leaves the Attorney General’s Office ‘a house divided,’ with the head of the agency openly at odds with top deputies. Of the agency leaders who confronted Paxton about his alleged crimes, only one is reported to have left the office: First Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Mateer, who immediately took a job with the First Liberty Institute.
Paxton appointed a replacement for Mateer today, Brent Webster, who is a private litigator and former district attorney in Williamson County.
The other accusers include Mateer’s deputy Ryan Bangert, Deputy AG for Policy James Brickman, Deputy AG for Administration Lacey Mase, Deputy AG for Civil Litigation Darren McCarty, Deputy AG for Criminal Justice J. Mark Penley, and Deputy AG for Legal Counsel Ryan Vassar. Hones tAustin contacted several of them but did not receive any response.
The deputies who asked Paxton to resign wrote a letter to the agency’s human resources department October 1, notifying the head of that department of their decision to report Paxton to The letter may have been intended to shield them from acts of retribution.
In the meantime, an outside political advisor to Paxton, Jordan Berry, also has resigned, the Texas Tribune reported Sunday.
This isn’t the first time that Ken Paxton has faced legal trouble. He has been under indictment for securities fraud in Collin County for five years, nearly his whole time in office. That case has been troubled by procedural wrangling and it has yet to go to trial.
As the elected Attorney General of Texas, Paxton is serving a term ending in 2023. Even if under investigation for crimes, he could continue to serve in office, unless impeached by the Texas Legislature.
Impeachment in Texas is slightly different from at the federal level. Once an official is impeached by the Texas House, he is suspended from exercising his duties until after the outcome of a Senate trial. Paxton’s wife, Angela Paxton, serves in the Texas Senate.
Another possibility is that Paxton’s bond in his securities fraud case could be revoked if he were indicted for a new felony. Kent Schaffer, an appointed prosecutor in that case, told Texas Lawyer, “When you’re under indictment in a felony case and you’re on bond, if you get a new violation, then your bond can be revoked and you can be held without bond. I’m not saying it’s going to happen. So far, we don’t have any evidence. He is not charged in a new case.”
Schaffer added that if Paxton eventually goes to trial in the securities fraud case, prosecutors would tell the jury about the new alleged crimes during the sentencing phase of the trial in order to argue for a harsher sentence.
