Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been found not guilty - by his own office - on accusations of bribery made by eight former aides in a report released Tuesday.
Paxton has denied the allegations and has cast blame on those eight employees, all of whom resigned or were fired from the agency. Four of them are currently suing Paxton for retaliation.
The aides accused Paxton of allowing improper influence from real estate investor Nate Paul, who donated to the attorney general's 2018 re-election campaign.
They claimed Paxton granted a series of favors for Paul, allegedly in return for a job for a woman the AG was having an affair with, according to the Dallas Morning News.
'Paxton and the Office of Attorney misused the funds, services and personnel of his office to personally benefit Nate Paul and to benefit himself,' the February 9 complaint alleged.
'Plaintiffs reasonably concluded that Paxton's bizarre, obsessive use of the power of his office to help Nate Paul was an effort to repay Paul for Paul's help with Paxton's home remodel and/or to silence or repay Paul for helping or paying Paxton's mistress, and/or to encourage Paul not to reveal that Paxton had had an affair.'
Paxton's wife, Angela, has served Texas as a state senator since 2019. According to Angela Paxton's campaign website, she and the attorney general have been married since 1986 and have four adult children.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been found not guilty - by his own office - on accusations of bribery made by eight former aides in a decision released Tuesday
Paxton, seen here with his wife State Senator Angela Paxton, is under investigation for granted a series of favors for businessman Nate Paul, allegedly in return for a job for a woman AG Paxton was having an affair with
Paul has been under a lengthy FBI investigation, and the investor's properties in Austin were raided on Aug. 19, 2020.
In a 374-page report with multiple exhibits, Paxton's office found his former employees alleging otherwise have 'no evidence' of a 'quid pro quo.'
'There is no evidence that Nate Paul attempted to bribe AG Paxton,' the report said. 'The Complainants attempt to use a campaign donation as proof of the bribe, however, Paul has made only one campaign donation to AG Paxton in 2018 – not only well before the allegedly improper actions taken by AG Paxton in 2020, but even before the FBI's 2019 raid that formed the gravamen of Nate Paul's criminal complaints.'
Paxton himself speaks out against the former aides accusing him in the report.
'Some of the Complainants operated in an unaccountable manner by not documenting their actions, instructing subordinates not to document their actions, dismissing other employees so that they could have secret meetings, deleting emails, and potentially other acts taken to conceal behaviors, processes, and evidence,' he said.
An attorney for several of the aides, who refer to themselves as 'whistleblowers,' told the Daily Mail in a statement that they were dismissing the credibility of the AG office's report.
'The takeaway from this internal report is that, although Ken Paxton remains under active federal investigation, the people who still work for Paxton say he did nothing wrong,' TJ Turner said on behalf of their legal team.
Paul has been under a lengthy FBI investigation, and the investor's properties in Austin were raided on Aug. 19, 2020
Paxton's ties to former President Trump have extended into his own 2022 re-election bid, in which he faces a tight fight against George P. Bush. Trump endorsed Paxton in the Republican primary
'Notably, whoever in Paxton's office wrote this report was not willing to put their name on it. Of course, the one-sided internal report is full of half-truths, outright lies, and glaring omissions. It is a half-baked self-exoneration by Paxton, who continues to use taxpayer dollars to delay and hide from simple document requests and depositions and pay private lawyers to keep the federal investigation quiet. The truth will come out, but you won't get it from Ken Paxton.'
As Turner says, despite the attorney general's office finding no wrongdoing, the lawsuit against Paxton remains active, though he has recently tried to have it thrown out in court, saying his aides had gone 'rogue' and made 'unsubstantiated claims.'
Paxton is also currently being investigated by the Texas State Bar over whether his failed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election based on bogus claims of fraud amounted to professional misconduct.
Jenna Ellis, a Newsmax commentator, former legal counsel to President Trump and a supporter of Paxton, called the attacks and the complaint 'politically-motivated.
'I'm glad Texas has my friend Ken Paxton fighting against tyranny and NOT backing down.'
Jenna Ellis, a Newsmax commentator, former legal counsel to President Trump and a supporter of Paxton, called the attacks and the complaint 'politically-motivated.
Antonio Arellano, Interim Executive Director of Jolt Texas, a group that calls itself 'the largest Latino progressive organization in Texas,' restated the events of the investigation in an attempt to show that it was ridiculous
Antonio Arellano, Interim Executive Director of Jolt Texas, a group that calls itself 'the largest Latino progressive organization in Texas,' restated the events of the investigation in an attempt to show that it was ridiculous.
'Y'all, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton conducted an internal investigation against himself that concluded with him clearing himself of the allegations that he repeatedly abused the power of his office,' he wrote.
Paxton's ties to Trump have extended into his own 2022 re-election bid, in which he faces a tight fight against George P. Bush, Texas' Land Commissioner and son of former Florida Governor and presidential candidate Jeb Bush, as well as former State Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman.
Trump endorsed Paxton for a third term despite Bush's clamor for Trump's backing and the former president calling him the only Bush who 'got it right.'
'Attorney General Ken Paxton has been bravely on the front line in the fight for Texas, and America, against the vicious and very dangerous Radical Left Democrats, and the foolish and unsuspecting RINOs (Republicans in name only) that are destroying our Country,' Trump said in a written statement of support.
Paxton also once faced a First Amendment lawsuit that forced him to stop blocking people on Twitter.
