Ken Paxton, like Greg Abbott before him, can try to intimidate Texas Democrats all he wants, but no responsible court will rule in his favor

After Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott stole his thunder, formerly indicted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton today filed a second baseless petition seeking to remove Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu from office, along with 12 more members of the Texas Democratic House Caucus who are fighting for their constituents and fair representation. After admitting that he would have to file in local judicial districts unlikely to support his attempts at intimidation, Paxton then followed Abbott’s lead and filed directly in the Texas Supreme Court.  

Not only is Paxton trying to disenfranchise Texas voters who chose to elect Democrats, but he won’t even face the local judges that those voters elected to bring justice to their communities. And Paxton’s suit won’t succeed. The Texas Supreme Court has already recognized that the Texas Constitution “enables quorum-breaking by a minority faction of the legislature.”  

Paxton’s petition should be denied immediately.

In response, DNC Chair Ken Martin issued the following statement:

“Corrupt Ken Paxton, who was once court-ordered to take an ethics course, should spend less time making baseless legal threats against Democrats and more time focused on his ‘new chapter.’ After getting beaten to the punch by Greg Abbott, Paxton went to the Texas Supreme Court to continue these Trump-style intimidation tactics. It won’t work — these Texas Democrats remain steadfast in their defense of democracy. The rule of law demands that this petition be denied immediately. Ken Paxton and Greg Abbott can fight over headlines all they want, but they both know they are on the wrong side of the law and the wrong side of history. The DNC stands with the Texas Democrats, and we’re ready to defend democracy in Texas and across the country.”

A quick reminder of corrupt, indicted and impeached Ken Paxton’s history:

Ken Paxton had to do community service, take a legal ethics course and pay $300,000 in restitution to escape felony securities fraud charges — and to pay for his criminal defense, he may have exploited bribery law loopholes.

Houston Chronicle: “Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton reached a deal to have his felony securities fraud charges dismissed in exchange for doing 100 hours of community service, taking legal ethics courses and paying about $300,000 in restitution. Over the next 18 months, Paxton cannot violate the law or he could again face trial, and he will have to check in with special prosecutors every 60 days in a virtual appointment.”

Houston Chronicle: “To pay for hefty legal defense bills stemming from his securities fraud case, Paxton leaned on donations from wealthy friends and donors totaling more than $329,000. The large amount raised concerns in 2016 that Paxton was exploiting loopholes in Texas bribery laws.”

The FBI investigated Ken Paxton for accepting bribes and abusing his office to cater to his wealthy donor friends, leading the Texas House to impeach Paxton.

Houston Chronicle: “The Texas House voted to impeach Paxton, suspending him immediately and accusing him of accepting bribes and abusing his office, among other things. The overwhelming majority vote, 121 to 23, requires a trial in the Texas Senate for Paxton’s possible removal from office.”

Houston Chronicle: “The FBI began looking into allegations that Paxton broke the law by using his office to benefit a friend and wealthy donor, Nate Paul. The investigation, first reported by the AP, including claims by former members of Paxton’s staff that he committed bribery, abuse of office and other crimes to help the Austin real estate developer. According to a whistleblower suit late filed by the former employees, Paxton provided Paul with confidential records and hired a young Houston attorney to look into the FBI’s raid of Paul’s home and business in 2019.. … Paxton and the whistleblowers, whom he had fired, signed a $3.3 million settlement in early 2023, but the payout has been contingent on the Texas Legislature providing the funds, which it has so far refused to do.”

Ken Paxton refused to turn over his communications surrounding Jan 6, in alleged violation of Texas’ open records law.

Houston Chronicle: “The Travis County district attorney’s office threatened to sue Paxton for not turning over his communications from January 2021, when he appeared at the pro-Trump rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The office, led by Democrat José Garza, said Paxton had violated the state’s open records law by not turning over his communications.”

Ken Paxton was accused of rigging the bidding process for a multimillion-dollar state contract that was awarded to a company in which Paxton was an early investor.

Houston Chronicle: “As first revealed in a 2008 Associated Press report, Paxton came under fire for failing to disclose his ties to WatchGuard Video, a company that sells equipment to municipal police departments across the nation. Paxton was an early investor in the company. After WatchGuard won a multimillion-dollar state contract in Texas, a competitor filed a lawsuit alleging the bidding process was rigged in WatchGuard’s favor and that two lawmakers — then-Reps. Paxton and Byron Cook — had special interest in the company’s success.”