The Lone Star Project provides you with the following Ken Paxton Corruption Quiz, so Red doesn’t have to. How shameful is it that we have an Attorney General that allows for this kind of humor? You decide.
The Ken Paxton Quiz
Leave a reply
Tag Archives: Ken Paxton
What’s Geg Abbott Hiding?
The Texas Tribune reports extensively on Gov. Greg Abbott’s penchant for secrecy and obfuscation in the release of his emails. Abbott has repeatedly sought the help of embattle Attorney General Ken Paxton in this attempts to keep the public from knowing what he is up to. Abbott has used a private email for official communications and has argued that he is a “member of the public” and that the Governor’s office is a “competitor” in the private market place in his so-far successful attempts to prevent the public from knowing what is going on with their Governor.
In his objections to releasing various records to the Tribune, Abbott cited exceptions available under increasingly weak state transparency laws — from attorney client privilege to broad protections given to lawmaking deliberations — so it’s hard in many instances to tell which legal provisions triggered each redaction, or what types of records his office is refusing to provide.
The two objections drawing the most criticism from transparency advocates relate to Abbott’s email address and his successful attempt to avoid scrutiny of his use of taxpayer money to encourage business relocation or expansion in Texas.
On the email address issue, the Republican governor cites an exemption that was written into the law to protect the privacy of regular citizens who correspond with state and local government officials. Under that provision, authorities are forbidden from giving out “an email address of a member of the public that is provided for the purpose of communicating electronically with a governmental body.”
That’s the exemption Abbott cited when his office unilaterally chose to block out identifying information in the address fields on emails provided by the governor’s office. Without that information included — or some explanation from the governor’s office — it’s impossible to say for sure if it was the governor himself who promised a top donor some last-minute assistance on a lawsuit-restriction bill that was stuck in committee last May. Somebody in his office did, albeit unsuccessfully.
Several government transparency experts say the provision Abbott cites was never intended to protect the email addresses of public officials who are discussing state business inside the government.
“I can’t see how a governmental official’s email address that he or she uses to conduct official business can be redacted,” said Joe Larsen, an open government attorney who also serves on the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.
Larsen said the email address, like the body of the email itself, becomes a public record the minute it’s used for public business.
“He’s not communicating with the government,” said former Travis County Judge Bill Aleshire, a Democrat. “He’s communicating within the government — with other government officials. And that email address ought not be confidential.”
Aleshire, an open records expert and attorney, is awaiting a decision on that very question in a lawsuit pitting an Austin watchdog publication, the Austin Bulldog, against the former Austin mayor and members of the City Council who have tried to withhold their email addresses using the same exemption. Aleshire is representing the Austin Bulldog.
Is Ken Paxton Also Just a Bad Lawyer?
Ken Paxton’s already shaky legal legacy took another hit this week when newspapers across the state began examining his role as an ad litem attorney for two children of Tanner Hunt – one of the children of Ray Hunt who killed himself in 2011. According to the San Antonio Express-News, Paxton was an ineffective if not possibly corrupt ad litem attorney for the two young girls. Paxton attempted to settle their claims to a multi-million dollar trust for $750,000 and would have had them disclaim inheritance rights to the larger Hunt oil family fortune. Paxton appears to have been in way over his head in attempting to protect the rights of his clients. Either that or something else was going on. But either way, Texas’ top lawyer again has shown that he is simply not up to the job – whatever it is.
Tanner Hunt, son of Dallas oil billionaire Ray Hunt, texted the mother of his two young daughters in fall 2011 for a picture of the girls in their Halloween costumes.
The next day, he took a Glock pistol, pressed it to his chest and fired a single shot, an Austin police report states.
At age 31, he left behind a $200,000 estate and no will, records show.
His daughters stood to inherit not only that estate but had potential inheritance claims on a $2 million trust that had been established for their father and possibly other trusts created by their great-grandfather, legendary wildcatter Haroldson Lafayette “H.L.” Hunt, who died in 1974.
But the following year, state lawmaker Ken Paxton was appointed attorney ad litem in Tanner Hunt’s probate case. He later put forth a settlement that called for Tanner Hunt’s daughters to receive just $750,000, which Paxton would invest for them — if they relinquished any claim on any further inheritances from the Hunt family.
That settlement was rejected by the girls’ mother, Crystal VanAusdal. It ultimately was replaced by a more generous, confidential settlement after the mother filed a motion asking the judge to recuse himself.
Red thinks there may be more.
Thanks for Nothing Katie Lang
Hood County Clerk and Tea Party favorite Katie Lang explains why she cannot fulfill the duties of her office because of her religious beliefs. If that is the case, she needs to step aside and let someone who actually can perform one of the essential duties of the office take over.
Oh, and by the way, Lang’s religious beliefs ended up costing Hood County $44,000 in her failed attempt to deny a marriage license to Joe Stapleton and Jim Cato. In fairness, Hood was led astray by that paragon of legal virtue – Attorney General Ken Paxton – who encouraged Texas civil servants to violate the law. Off the Kuff has the details on how the taxpayers of Hood County took it in the shorts because of Lang.
Ken Paxton Ignores First Rule of Holes
The news just isn’t getting any better for embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton who now faces possible contempt charges over his refusal to follow the law of the land on same-sex marriage following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling. Paxton has put up roadblocks wherever possible to state recognition of same-sex marriage hoping no doubt to assuage to his Tea Party base in light of his other legal troubles. Under the guidance of Paxton, the Texas Department of health has so far denied a terminally ill gay man a death certificate naming his legally wed spouse as his husband. AP reports on the brewing controversy in a federal court in San Antonio.
Judge Orlando Garcia ordered Paxton to appear in a San Antonio federal court next Wednesday after a Houston gay man was not provided an amended death certificate for his husband. The court order comes just two days after Paxton was booked on securities fraud charges.
The hearing is to determine whether Paxton and Kirk Cole, interim commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, should be held in contempt after potentially disobeying a July 7 court order barring the state from enforcing any laws “that prohibit or fail to recognize same-sex marriage,” according to the court order.
Garcia further ordered that state officials must provide an amended death certificate to John Stone-Hoskins of Conroe, who had filed court papers earlier Wednesday asking the judge to force Texas officials to place his name on the certificate for his husband, James Stone-Hoskins, who died in January. The two were married last year in New Mexico.
He had argued that the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision on gay marriage in June means his name should be placed on his spouse’s death certificate. The ruling required all states to recognize same-sex marriages, even those performed elsewhere, and overturned any legal bans.
The certificate listed James Stone-Hoskins as single and referred to his husband as a “significant other.” In court papers John Stone-Hoskins says he’s facing a terminal illness and wants to settle his estate and have state records recognize his marriage. He added during a news conference Wednesday that he should be able to inherit his spouse’s estate but cannot because the certificate doesn’t list him as the surviving spouse. Complicating matters was that his husband didn’t have a will when he died, according to court papers.
“This is about every same sex couple that’s going through or could go through what I’m going through now,” he said.
The Texas Department of State Health Services has said it’s reviewing the Supreme Court ruling to determine if changes must be made to death certificate documents.
“This involves taking a broad look at a variety of forms and vital records,” agency spokeswoman Carrie Williams said in a statement provided earlier to WFAA-TV in Dallas. “Our attorneys are working with the AG’s office on the analysis. We hope to finish the analysis in the coming weeks. Once we complete that analysis, we would make any necessary changes as soon as possible.”
Ken Paxton Indicted and Friendless?
Attorney General Ken Paxton has been indicted on felony charges related to securities fraud. Many commentators are wondering where are the GOP office holders and hordes of Tea Party loyalists coming to Paxton’s defense. Noted Paxton supporters such as Sen. Ted Cruz (TP – Texas) and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick are nowhere to be heard or seen in defense of Paxton.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Morning News speculates on what the indictment and possible conviction means for Paxton’s political future.
What is different for Paxton is that there is no case to be made that he is a victim of dirty politics, said Southern Methodist University political science professor Cal Jillson.
“Even when you are offering a political defense, you have to keep one foot on the base — you have to make claims that are rooted in some plausibility,” Jillson said.
Paxton’s case was heard in Collin County “which is a red, red, red belt of Texas conservatism,” Jillson said, and the evidence was obtained by the Texas Rangers. The charges stem from investment deals with business partners who are under investigation by state and federal authorities, he said.
Paxton, once a small-town lawyer, already has been shown in news reports to have become involved with land flips and about 30 businesses once he got into the Legislature, Jillson said.
“It’s complicated and delicate for an attorney general, more so than for a governor or a senator, because you are the top elected legal official in the state,” Jillson said. “As the top legal officer, to find yourself under felony indictment is beyond awkward.”
Paxton can remain in office while under indictment. If he were convicted of a felony, his law license would automatically be suspended and he would be unable to serve.
Gov. Greg Abbott would name a replacement, who would face confirmation by the Senate.
During the legal fight, it is likely Paxton will keep a low political profile but try to make as many professional appearances as possible to deflect attention from his legal problems and reinforce the idea that he is tending to state business, Miller said.
Attacking the process is unlikely to help him either legally or politically, he said.
“It’s all courtroom,” Miller said. “Game on.”
Quote for the Day
“Ken Paxton is an ethics dumpster fire that might be spreading. Governor Abbott and state regulators failed to take action to enforce the law, and Texans deserve to know why. Governor Abbott should stop hiding from the Paxton scandal hoping it will go away.”
Lone Star Project Director Matt Angle.
Not sure what an “ethics dumpster fire” is but it sure sounds bad.
Is Dan Patrick Advising Texas Officials to Ignore the Law of the Land?
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (TP-Texas) apparently wants the advice of Attorney General Ken Paxton about the options available to state officials who have a “conflict of conscience” now that gay marriage has been legalized nationwide by the US Supreme Court.
“(The gay marriage ban) could be struck down or altered by our nation’s highest court,If that should happen, county clerks and justices of the peace could be forced to subjugate their sincerely held religious beliefs. The practical reality of this conflict will occur throughout the state.”
In his own letter Thursday, Paxton urged county clerks to hold off on issuing marriage licenses to gay couples until his office has had a chance to analyze any decision from the high court.
These officials and the County Clerks who issue marriage licenses take an oath of office to uphold the law. Does this mean only laws they approve of? Does this mean they can nullify the law based on their religious beliefs? Do your jobs or step aside and let someone who will take over. Otherwise, let the lawsuits roll.
Is the Hole Getting Deeper for AG Ken Paxton?
Off the Kuff does an excellent job of detailing the latest from the continuing saga of possible criminal activity by Attorney General Ken Paxton – so Red doesn’t have to. Meanwhile, it seems no one cares that the state’s top legal official may have engaged in felonious conduct when he referred his legal clients to a financial advisor for a referral fee that was not disclosed to those same clients. For the first time some of the clients speak up about Paxton’s conduct – and as you might have guessed they are not happy that Paxton failed to fully inform them of the arrangement.
The Anti-Gay Crowd Aint Going Down Without a Fight
Texas AG Ken Paxton will not give up easy and Red suspects neither will his Tea Party cohorts. Marriage is only for straights and the Gays can feel whatever they want, but don’t try to walk down the aisle in Texas. RawStory recounts Paxton’s recent interview on CNN.
“My job as attorney general and the job of the Legislature is to really follow the will of the people and enforce the laws that we have,” he remarked. “This is both in statute and in our constitution. So, that’s my job, and that’s the job of the Legislature.”
But the attorney general was not willing to say that the state would follow the Supreme Court if it decided to rule in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage later this year.
“Aren’t you saying that the gays and lesbians in your state are not as valued at heterosexuals because they can’t form into a union?” Camerota asked.
“All the Legislature has done in the past is try to reflect the values that have been in this state and this country for over two centuries,” Paxton insisted.
“What about homosexuals who fall in love? What should they do?” the CNN host pressed.
“They have — they can do whatever they want,” Paxton shrugged. “But the reality itself right now in Texas was defined by the people of Texas overwhelmingly as between a man and a woman. And that’s the law of Texas, it’s in our constitution, it’s in our statutes.”
“I mean, they can’t really do whatever they want as you’ve just said,” Camerota shot back. “Do you understand why gays in Texas would feel that is discriminating against them?”
“They can feel how they want,” Paxton replied. “The reality is the voters of Texas have passed the law as it is.”
Ten bucks says that even Tea Party crazed Texas would not vote the gay marriage ban into the Constitution today.
Paradise in Hell 