Tag Archives: bribery

Another Paxton roundup

Posted on June 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The hits keep on coming… So, just how transparent is this Senate trial going to be? Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has promised maximum transparency in the impeachment trial for suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton, but trial rules recently adopted by … Continue reading →

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Nate Paul arrested by feds

Posted on June 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Well, well, well. Nate Paul, the Austin real estate developer central to allegations of illegal conduct by Ken Paxton, Texas’ now-suspended attorney general, was arrested by the FBI on Thursday. Paul was booked into the Travis County Jail at 4:25 … Continue reading →

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House General Investigations Committee goes hard after Paxton

Posted on May 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. A Texas House committee heard stunning testimony Wednesday from investigators over allegations of a yearslong pattern of misconduct and questionable actions by Attorney General Ken Paxton, the result of a probe the committee had secretly authorized in March. In … Continue reading →

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No Paxton settlement money in the budget

Posted on May 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The Lege takes a stand. Texas budget negotiators want to ban Attorney General Ken Paxton from using state funds to pay a $3.3 million whistleblower settlement. This week, they adopted a provision that would bar the Office of the Attorney General from using … Continue reading →

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Meanwhile, in Ken Paxton crime news…

Posted on April 3, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Paxton buddy Nate Paul loses an appeal on the contempt charges against him. The Austin real estate investor accused of bribing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton still faces 10 days in jail for contempt of court, after losing an appeal. … Continue reading →

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The Lege still doesn’t want to pay for Paxton’s whistleblower sins

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Who can blame them? Now midway through the legislative session, Paxton and state lawmakers are at a standstill, and taxpayers are caught in the middle. Lawmakers have so far declined to include the settlement money in any budget bills, while … Continue reading →

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The whistleblowers’ un-settlement

Posted on March 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Plot twist! The whistleblowers who sued Attorney General Ken Paxton say they’re headed back to court unless he agrees that the Legislature must approve their proposed $3.3 million settlement before the current legislative session ends in May. They are the … Continue reading →

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Nate Paul jailed for contempt

Posted on March 6, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Just a little story about one of Ken Paxton’s close personal friends. A real estate investor accused of bribing the Texas attorney general has been ordered to pay over $180,000 in fines and spend 10 days in jail for contempt … Continue reading →

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Paxton makes his plea to the Lege

Posted on February 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s more accurate to say that one of his assistants pleaded for him while he mostly sat silent, but whatever. Days after the Texas house speaker openly opposed using taxpayer dollars to settle a whistleblower suit against Attorney General Ken … Continue reading →

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Why should Ken Paxton’s whistleblowers suffer for his sins?

Posted on February 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the question their lawyers ask in a DMN op-ed. The whistleblower suit is currently pending at the Texas Supreme Court on appeal of an esoteric argument made by the attorney general. Recently, the Office of the Attorney General and … Continue reading →

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So will the Lege pay off Paxton’s whistleblowers or not?

Posted on February 19, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s maybe a bit more complicated than I thought at first. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan says he is against using taxpayer money to pay Attorney General Ken Paxton’s $3.3 million settlement agreement in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by four … Continue reading →

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Paxton settles with whistleblowers

Posted on February 11, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Meh. Attorney General Ken Paxton and four of his former top deputies who said he improperly fired them after they accused him of crimes have reached a tentative agreement to end a whistleblower lawsuit that would pay those employees $3.3 … Continue reading →

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Paxton seeks settlement with some of the whistleblower plaintiffs

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s legal team is in settlement negotiation talks with three of the four former employees who filed a whistleblower lawsuit against him for firing them after they accused Paxton of criminal acts. Paxton’s lawyers, … Continue reading →

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William-Paul Thomas

Posted on August 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is bad. The question is how much worse might it be. William-Paul Thomas, the mayor’s council liaison, was offered more than $13,000 by a local bar owner to help him pass a building inspection and fast-track a new permit … Continue reading →

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Where are we with the Paxton whistleblower lawsuit?

Posted on June 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We are in the familiar position of waiting for the drawn-out appeals process to conclude. Pull up a chair and make yourself comfortable. The appeals process has grown a bit longer in state Attorney General Ken Paxton’s effort to dismiss a whistleblower lawsuit by … Continue reading →

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Abbott and Patrick ask SCOTx to take up Paxton’s whistleblower appeal

Posted on April 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

They sort of have a point, but they should still butt out. Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Monday urged the Supreme Court of Texas to take up Attorney General Ken Paxton’s appeal to throw out a … Continue reading →

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I regret to inform you that Ken Paxton may not be an honest broker

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

You should maybe be sitting down for this. The whistleblowers who sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after he fired them for accusing him of bribery and abuse of office are speaking out against him publicly for the first time … Continue reading →

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Paxton asks Supreme Court to toss that pesky whistleblower lawsuit

Posted on January 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Same argument, different court. Either Ken Paxton can be held accountable, or he gets a free pass to do whatever he wants. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked the Texas Supreme Court to toss out a whistleblower lawsuit by … Continue reading →

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Third Court rejects Paxton attempt to kill whistleblower lawsuit

Posted on October 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A state appeals court found Thursday that former deputies of Attorney General Ken Paxton who were fired after accusing the Republican official of abusing his office are protected under the state’s whistleblower law, allowing their lawsuit against Paxton to … Continue reading →

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Appeals court appears skeptical about Paxton’s whistleblower defense

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

As well they should be. A panel of Texas 3rd Court of Appeals justices expressed skepticism of an argument from Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawyers on Wednesday that he is exempt from the state’s whistleblower act because he’s not a … Continue reading →

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More on the Paxton self-exoneration report

Posted on August 26, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

More and more ridiculous. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office refuses to release the names of the authors or the taxpayer cost of the internal report published Tuesday that concluded that whistleblowers’ accusations that Paxton broke the law were unfounded. … Continue reading →

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Stop investigating yourself, you’ll go blind

Posted on August 25, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

There’s not enough snark on the Internet for this. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office on Tuesday released an internal report that found that Paxton did not accept bribes and did not misuse his office to benefit his friend and … Continue reading →

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Whistleblowers respond to Paxton’s appeal brief

Posted on June 24, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

That title is a dry way of saying that they basically accused him of lying in his filing to the 3rd Court of Appeals. A group of former top aides to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton reiterated in a court … Continue reading →

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Paxton appeals to 3rd Court to dismiss whistleblower lawsuit

Posted on June 3, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Next stop on the train. In an 85-page brief filed Tuesday with the 3rd Court of Appeals, Paxton’s lawyers argue that under state law, a whistleblower must believe someone has broken the law, but the aides only reported that “they … Continue reading →

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Paxton whistleblower lawsuit can proceed

Posted on March 15, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

First step in a long road. The 3rd Court of Appeals on Friday denied a petition from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office to stop a trial court hearing in a suit filed by whistleblowers who claim they were wrongfully … Continue reading →

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Has Ken Paxton been lying about his travel schedule?

Posted on March 2, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Would anyone be surprised if he had been? When the media reported that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had flown to Utah with his wife in the middle of the state’s power crisis last week, Paxton called it a business … Continue reading →

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Quid pro Paxton

Posted on February 12, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

How tawdry. And I can’t wait to hear more. Late last year, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fired multiple senior aides who accused him of accepting a bribe. A court filing obtained by The Texas Tribune reveals for the first … Continue reading →

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Ken Paxton couldn’t be more on brand if he tried

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

News item: Texas laws protecting whistleblowers don’t apply to Attorney General Ken Paxton, his agency argues in bid to quash lawsuit. Who among us didn’t already know that Ken Paxton doesn’t think the law applies to him? The Texas Attorney … Continue reading →

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Another way Ken Paxton is costing you money

Posted on January 6, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

He’s something else, this guy. Texas may pay tens of millions of dollars to outside attorneys hired to handle a major lawsuit against Google — money the state did not plan to spend before a scandal enveloped Texas Attorney General … Continue reading →

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Paxton denies whistleblower allegations

Posted on December 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Pretty standard response. The Texas attorney general’s office will pay outside counsel $540 an hour to defend the state agency against accusations that it was retaliating against top aides when it fired them just weeks after they reported their boss, … Continue reading →

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FBI serves subpoenas in Paxton case

Posted on December 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Quite the timing, no? Federal agents served at least one subpoena Wednesday on the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in an ongoing investigation into allegations that Paxton abused his authority by helping a friend and campaign donor. Three … Continue reading →

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Of course Nate Paul’s attorney donated to Ken Paxton

Posted on December 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I mean, duh. Several weeks after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made the unusual move of intervening in a civil lawsuit involving his friend and campaign donor Nate Paul, Paxton received a $25,000 donation from the law firm hired by … Continue reading →

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The last whistleblower

Posted on November 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Nothing like a fully cleaned house. The Texas attorney general’s office has fired the last remaining whistleblower who alleged Ken Paxton broke the law in doing favors for a political donor — just days after aides had sued the agency … Continue reading →

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So the FBI is indeed investigating Ken Paxton

Posted on November 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Sources say so. The FBI is investigating allegations that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton broke the law in using his office to benefit a wealthy donor, according to two people with knowledge of the probe. Federal agents are looking into … Continue reading →

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