It’s an odd, if unsurprising, development from the man who was accused of abusing the power of his office to help not only himself, but also a campaign contributor and his own mistress. It’s not as though Paxton is legally in the clear, mind you. The various criminal allegations that hovered over him before his summer-long soap opera are still there, and they’ve arguably grown darker since his impeachment trial victory.
On Sept. 25, Blake Brickman, one of the whistleblowers who reached a $3.3-million settlement with Paxton — the event that led the House to get serious about investigating Paxton’s alleged misdeeds, wrote an op-ed for The Dallas Morning News stating that the legal fight was back on since the settlement will not be honored. The federal case against Paxton involving the whistleblower allegations and the securities fraud case he faces in Texas are also still very much alive.
Just as there’s never an offseason when it comes to Dallas Cowboys news and drama, that now seems to be the case with our AG. And the breadth of how Paxton is connected to so many news stories that on the surface don’t seem to involve him is remarkable in its scope. Let’s take a look at what all Paxton is in the middle of right now, shall we?
Last night I released a slate, I believe is strong for collin county. #txlege pic.twitter.com/cq5u5rK9z3
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) October 11, 2023
From Impeached to Doxxed
When the House board of managers released a trove of evidence from the impeachment trial last week, they did so without Paxton’s home address being redacted. The Austin American-Statesman reported that “Paxton is arguing that evidence released last week by the board of managers, which was not presented publicly during his impeachment trial in the Senate last month, essentially amounts to an attempt by the House members to maliciously share his personal information, or dox him.”Paxton reportedly plans to file individual complaints against each member of the House board of managers for releasing the documents with his personal info. But did he really get doxxed? The Statesman noted that “Paxton's home addresses in both Austin and McKinney, however, can be viewed on local public appraisal district websites.”
Sorry About All the RINOs
In a move that would be simultaneously hilarious and sad if it weren’t true, controversial Arlington state Rep. Tony Tinderholt has filed House Resolution 16, which would extend a formal apology to Paxton for the overwhelming 121-23 vote in May to impeach him.But a mere apology will not be enough for the Tarrant County Republican. No. Tinderholt, who has promoted charging women who get an abortion with criminal homicide, wants to make sure his AG gets a souvenir from his battle, asking that “an official copy of this resolution be prepared for Attorney General Ken Paxton as an expression of sincere contrition by the Texas House of Representatives.”
The Enemy of My Enemy
Paxton was suspended from his duties from the end of May to the middle of September. It seems as though he used some of that downtime to binge episodes of The Office. He really seems to have taken a liking to the teachings of the power-thirsty Dwight Schrute, who once said: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”With that in mind, Paxton has declared campaign war against many of the Republicans who opposed him during the impeachment saga. On Tuesday, Paxton released a statement on X (formerly Twitter) announcing a list of candidates in his home county of Collin County he supports to unseat the Republicans currently elected there. That latter group includes his former longtime friend, Republican Rep. Jeff Leach of Plano.
“It’s time for Jeff Leach, Matt Shaheen, Frederick Frazier and Candy Noble to come home,” the statement reads. “They have consistently voted against their constituents’ best interests and chosen petty political corruption and a failed witch hunt over delivering real results for their constituents.”
It’s also been reported that Andrew Murr of Junction, who served as the chair of the House impeachment managers, and House Speaker Dade Phelan of Beaumont, Paxton's regular sparring partner, are high on his list of targets. Even the governor has taken a page from the Schrute/Paxton playbook, recently threatening to endorse candidates who face off against Republicans who he thinks stood in the way of his school voucher-like program being discussed in the special session, should it fail to pass.
Nazi Gold
Perhaps we should be surprised, but there’s been a lot of chatter surrounding Nazis in North Texas this week, and the tentacles of that talk have reached Austin — specifically, Paxton and his ally, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.Over the weekend Texas Tribune reported that Nick Fuentes, whom the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as a “white supremacist” who “frequently relies on antisemitic tropes about Jewish control of media and political institutions,” visited the office of conservative consulting firm Pale Horse Strategies, based outside Fort Worth, for several hours. Pale Horse’s leader, former state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, just happens to head the Defend Texas Liberty PAC, which contributed $1 million to Patrick's campaign before lending another $2 million.
Oh, yeah, Defend Texas Liberty was among the most vocal Paxton supporters following the House vote to impeach him. While the political battle between pro-Paxton Republicans and GOP members who oppose him has been heated, the timing of the Fuentes visit didn’t exactly work out well, having occurred just as Hamas launched its deadly attacks on Israel, sparking what Israel now calls an all-out war.
Phelan was quick to demand that Patrick and any elected officials who have received money from Stickland’s group return it immediately, calling Fuentes a “Nazi sympathizer.” In response on Monday, Patrick demanded that Phelan resign, something Paxton has now done a few times this year, for what the lieutenant governor said was the speaker's attempt to seek “political gain.”
