ken paxton eye injury

Their lawsuit alleges that in exchange for using the office to help Austin-based real estate developer Nate Paul, Paxton received a kitchen remodel and a job for a woman with whom the attorney general allegedly had an affair. Paxton was an unremarkable legislator in his first half-decade in Austina backbencher whose highest-profile stunt was a law adding President George W. Bushs name to Welcome to Texas signs. Lauren is an investigative reporter based in Austin who focuses on gender, sexuality and politics. At various times, they lived in Florida, New York, North Carolina, California, and Oklahoma. Ken worked as a lawyer for J.C. Penney. The son of a B-52 pilot, Paxton spent his childhood on the move, living with his family in a trailer without air conditioning in six different states in 10 years. (The company eventually settled, with no admission of wrongdoing.) birther colleagues questioned Obamas eligibility to appear on the ballot. He pleaded not guilty in 2015 and went on to win reelection three years later. The justices unanimously rejected Paxtons argument. Terms of Service apply. Paxton had an extramarital affair with a woman whom he later recommended for a job with the wealthy donor now at the center of criminal allegations against him, according to two people who said Paxton told them about the relationship. Paxton had persuaded Cook and other acquaintances to sink a combined $840,000 into the venture. At the same time, show me one person that hasnt made any mistakes in their life, Yablon told The News. Evaluate 4 (23374 Ratings) Top rated: 4 . As the crowd at the Ellipse witnessed, he has all the charisma of a writ of certiorari. He has not, like Cruz or Josh Hawley, his partners in the would-be coup, been groomed since his teenage years for the national stage. Its not just about Ken Paxton, she told me. It was proof, he said, that mail ballots are vulnerable to diversion, coercion, and influence by organized vote harvesting schemes. One week later, seven Paxton staffersincluding some of his top subordinatesleft the office after an early lunch and reported their boss to the FBI. People who stopped by Paxtons law office for some estate planning might come away with a referral to a donors investment firmwhich, unbeknownst to them, was paying Paxton a commission. His office argued that the ban was stimulating interstate commerce by compelling patients to travel to Oklahoma. Author: sumanthiran.com. The woman had stopped working as a Senate aide at the end of 2019, though her reason for departing wasn't immediately clear. The attorney general told the group he had an affair but had since ended it and recommitted to his marriage, the person said. The AG had intervened in a lawsuit between Paul and a charity he owed money to. Paxton is still awaiting trial on the fraud indictments from 2015. After Trump hailed the suit as the big one, South Carolina, Florida, and 15 other states eventually signed on. The appeals court this month handed him another victory in declaring unlawful the immigration program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. He produced no evidence of fraud, and he recycled absurdities. Texas AG Ken Paxton leans into controversy, brushes off (A judge eventually ordered Servergys former ceo to pay a $22,500 fine for having negligently violated securities law.) Paxton had a nose for business ideas, but they were not always good ones. Given the various cases against him, Paxton might not keep his job much longer. 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Paxton portrayed himself as a persecuted Christian, beset by the forces of darkness. a federal judge and the FBI broke the law. Bill Miller, an Austin lobbyist and longtime friend of Paxtons, said controversy is no longer the third rail it used to be in politics. The Biden Administrations attempts to radicalize federal law to track its woke political beliefs are beyond dangerous, Paxton said this month in a press release marking a court win on LGBT policy. Webnabuckeye.org. The police determined it was not a criminal matter and the district attorneys office declined to prosecute, according to an Austin police report The News obtained through a public records request. Sources confirmed Thursday the FBI has subpoenaed Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after his senior staff revolted and reported him for alleged corruption, bribery and abuse of office for investigating the enemies of campaign donor and Austin real estate investor Nate Paul. In another request for a criminal investigation that reached Paxtons office, Paul claimed businessmen and another judge were conspiring to steal $200 million worth of his properties. Hes led a legal crusade against immigrants, voting rights, environmental regulations, health care access, and trans equality. Rutledge also teamed up with Paxton to challenge the Obama administrations Clean Power Plan, the Biden administrations prohibition on LGBTQ workplace discrimination, and DACA. This leaves the chamber rife with conflicts of interest. He just wants a speedy trial, Paxton insists. WebKen Paxton is the 51st Attorney General of Texas. Empower Texans, a PAC funded by the billionaire oilman Tim Dunn, who has spent huge sums waging an intraparty civil war on behalf of Texas conservatives, guaranteed a million-dollar loan to Paxtons campaign during the primary. Texas embraced it after South Carolina balked. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton put his job and ability to withstand legal troubles on the line Tuesday in a Republican primary runoff against George P. Bush, whose own family record was at stake. Paxton, who speaks almost exclusively to conservative TV and radio hosts, has managed to avoid answering any questions about the alleged affair for more than a year. He has been under indictment for six years. By 2020, with his case no closer to resolution, Paxton was being feted at the Federalist Society as a defender of the bulwarks of federalism and had served as chair of the Republican Attorneys General Association. Paxton went to UVA rather than the University of Texas, he later explained, believing he would have to compete with fewer classmates for jobs in Texas after graduation. AUSTIN Attorney General Ken Paxton today released the following statement after a federal court found the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is likely unlawful and the Plaintiff States are irreparably harmed. Rejecting centuries of constitutional law and democratic traditions, Paxton filed a lawsuit arguing that Pennsylvania and three other states won by Joe Biden had harmed Texas by expanding mail- and early-voting access during the pandemic. The politically charged environment has turned off some agency lawyers. Paxton has insulated himself from outside critics. I will continue to push back against these unlawful attempts to use federal agencies to normalize extremist positions that put millions of Texans at risk.. But the speaker of the House was Joe Straus, a moderate Republican (and to the consternation of some, a Jew) who had cut a deal with Democrats to land the job. They said he told them that he had ended the affair with the woman, who then worked for a GOP state senator. But beyond the slapstick lawyering, the willful disregard for the constitutional order portended something ominous. One had even been denied a federal judgeship after reporters dug up a speech in which he called transgender kids Satans plan. They had eagerly signed up to work for the flagship of reactionary federalism; instead, they worried they had become Paxtons accomplices. Only the fringiest of lawyers have faced sanction. The November election offered Paxton a shot at redemption. Take Pirin Electric. 5 Mavericks, including Kyrie Irving, will not play vs. Bulls. Ken Paxton has been in the public eye since his election to the Texas House in 2002, and became a household name when he challenged disgraced House Speaker Joe Straus in 2011. Paxton and his top aides see themselves at war with the forces that want to destroy the American order, root and branch, Deputy Attorney General for Legal Strategy Aaron Reitz said in recorded remarks last fall. This Is the New Normal. He once said that the key to his political success is that he has a three-syllable name. He has avoided answering questions under oath, and was accused of fleeing his home in September so he wouldnt be served a subpoena in a high-stakes abortion case. Webtexas attorney general ken paton what happened to his eye. Paxton was not just providing cover to a desperate president; he was driving the conservative legal apparatus into new territory and setting the stage for the next election challenge to come. A majority of the House Republican conference signed their names to an amicus brief. August 31, 2015, 2:00 PM, CDT. The two people, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to fears about retaliation, said the high-profile Republican official acknowledged the affair in 2018 to senior members of his office and political staff. Only a handful of dissenters have broken ranks. Evaluate 4 (23374 Ratings) Top rated: 4 . The effect is that whether he is posing for a mugshot or addressing a large group of people preparing to hang Mike Pence, Paxtons face appears fixed in a mischievous half-smirk. Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights. (In a deposition in late 2020 as part of the ongoing litigation with the charity, Paul confirmed that Paxton had recommended the woman.) During the deposition, Paul said the former Senate aide applied for a posted job and now works for him as a project manager. The wrinkle was that ordinary citizens, rather than the state, would take responsibility for enforcing it, by suing anyone who so much as drove an ineligible woman to a clinic. Four years later, it raised more than double that. When that failed, he and his wife rallied Trump supporters Jan. 6, 2021, in the hours before hundreds stormed the U.S. Capitol. ( Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. In 2020, the FBI began investigating him over Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhereand help us do it with a donation if you can. Texas had stayed red when states such as Georgia had flipped, he explained, because he had been willing to fight by filing lawsuits to restrict voting. But Ken is a common denominator, a white man in institutions made for them, carried along on the current of conservative politics and privilege. Suburbs like Collin County, north of Dallas, were the launchpad of the Christian conservative takeover in the state, and the Paxtons were deeply involved in the anti-abortion movement that powered it. Im sure hes made some mistakes. The woman had stopped working as a Senate aide at the end of 2019, though her reason for departing wasnt immediately clear. Not long after, the US Securities and Exchange Commission brought charges of its own. Taking advantage of a new Texas law that moved public-integrity prosecutions out of Austin and onto elected officials home turf, a Paxton campaign donor named Jeff Blackard sued the all-Republican Collin County commission, alleging that the cost of a trial would be an imposition on taxpayers like himself. I think hes funny. And this case wasnt going to be laughed out of courtin December, the Supreme Court ruled that the law could stay on the books while legal challenges from abortion providers move forward. When staffers in the Florida attorney generals office first saw Paxtons brief, they began emailing frantically back and forth. When he was 12, Paxton nearly lost his right eye in a freak accident during a game of hide-and-seek. So, I think people should be very wary. A person who attended the meeting said Paxton and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, walked into the conference room holding hands. Hes done right. That really goes back to the complete control of the Republican Party by the most far-right elements of our state.. Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox. Our tactics is, lawfare [sic].. In a Paxton campaign ad from February 2014, the rights favorite firebrand of the moment, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, praises him in a voiceover as Paxton confidently strides down the steps of the Collin County courthouse. It was hardly the keynote slotbefore Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle, before Eric and Lara Trump, before Rudy Giuliani calling for trial by combat, before John Eastman, dressed for some reason like Indiana Jones, and long before President Donald Trump, who would speak for more than an hour and incite an insurrection against Congress. Wealthy Texans topple over in Forbes global billionaire rankings; Musk no longer No. What Cook didnt realize was that Paxton had not purchased any shares in the company himself. I think people should be asking questions.. Hes pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges. In the formal complaint the whistleblowers filed with the FBI, and in a subsequent lawsuit for wrongful termination brought by four of them, Paxtons staffers detailed a bizarre pattern of behavior from their boss on behalf of an Austin real estate developer named Nate Paul, with whom the Attorney General has formed a strong personal bond, and with whom the Attorney General increasingly spends large portions of his free time.. It gives him the feeling that he can take on whatever he chooses to and will live with whatever the consequences.. In that case, he and three other Republican state representatives were part of a group of investors who lost $2.5 million to a Prestonwood member who had become a local celebrity after claiming to have found the possible remains of Noahs Ark in Iran. In September, Paxton hired an outside lawyer to look into Paul's claim against the FBI, and separate allegations that businessmen conspired against him with a federal judge. He has been suffering A person who attended the meeting said Paxton and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, walked into the conference room holding hands. 815 Mail-In Ballots Found In Texas Mail Processing Facilities During Search Ordered By Judge, North Texas Rental Home Community Residents Told To Remove All Flags: 'It's Just Terrible Timing', Dallas ISD Students Struggling During Pandemic; District Calls Reading And Math Test Results 'Atrocious'. Paxtons arguments had already been rejected in other courts. At the age of twelve, Paxton nearly lost an eye in a game of hide-and-seek; a misdiagnosis led to long-term His parents and their three children lived in a trailer, often without air conditioning, parked outside wherever his father was temporarily stationed. The senators office has not responded to requests for comment. As the New York Times later reported, the lawsuit had first been distributed by Michael Farris, a homeschooling activist and president of the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom. In June, in an unprecedented gesture, a coalition of former bar presidents and officers lodged their own complaint. AUSTIN, The tactic workedthe commissioners voted to cut off funds for the case, and special prosecutors have now spent years fighting to overturn the decision in court. Lowest rating: 2 . A primary opponent dug up a lawsuit from a couple alleging that Paxton, after being hired to prepare a postnuptial agreement, had pushed them to make a bad investment with a financial manager he was friends withwithout revealing hed get a commission. He was elected on November 4, 2014, and sworn into office on January 5, 2015. His speech was over in three minutes. On September 24, Paxton triumphantly announced the indictment of a commissioner in a small East Texas county for alleged absentee ballot fraud in a local Democratic primary election. By the time the crowded 2014 primary for attorney general rolled around, the resources of the partys anti-Straus right, including the National Rifle Association and anti-abortion groups such as Texas Right to Life, were at his disposal. Paxton has acknowledged knowing Paul, who gave his campaign $25,000 in 2018, but the full nature of their relationship has been unclear. World Class has hundreds of employees, including (the woman), and in accordance with federal and state laws does not invade their privacy including to inquire about their personal lives, the developers lawyer, Michael Wynne, said in an email. Get the latest politics news from North Texas and beyond. I realized as I saw people coming to Christ that I didnt have what they had, he said in a 2017 interview with the Christian broadcasting mogul Joni Lamb, whose late husband, Marcus, flew the Paxtons to Trumps 2017 inauguration. The other person confirmed the meeting took place and said Paxton also spoke with that person separately about his affair with the woman. Their most intriguing theory was one that cut at the core of the Paxtons power-couple brand: Sometime in 2019 or 2020, they stated, Paxton had admitted that hed had an extramarital affair with a former aide to a Republican state senatorand Paul had subsequently given the aide a job. Paxton has scored one major blow already. he pocketed a fellow lawyers $1,000 Montblanc pen, four are now suing under state whistleblowers laws, help Austin-based real estate developer Nate Paul, with whom the attorney general allegedly had an affair, accused a campaign donor of threatening to kill, Paxton told conservative podcast host Chris Salcedo, abuse investigations into parents of transgender youth, bragged about a win in federal appeals court, dropped human trafficking and child sexual assault cases when it lost track of a victim, one taken during the February 2021 winter storm, endorsed Paxton in his four-way GOP primary, says she would prioritize consumer protection lawsuits, Ken Paxton, Rochelle Garza post million-dollar fundraising in Texas AG race, can no longer unilaterally prosecute voter fraud, Letters to the Editor Frisco ISD, voting, artificial intelligence, Letters to the Editor Plano City Council, Texas business, abortion bills, guns, Letters to the Editor Market Street UMC, April Fools joke, voting laws, China, guns, District 4: Election clash for south Oak Cliffs council seat is about change, Skipping elections could put Texas voters at risk of being purged from rolls under bill, Mavericks, Luka Doncic eliminated from playoff contention with loss to Bulls, Wonderful to welcome you: Asylum-seekers from Chinese church arrive in Dallas-Fort Worth, Access to abortion pill mifepristone uncertain after rulings in Texas, Washington. Under questioning during the deposition, Paul said he did not know how the woman he hired and the attorney general knew each other. He asked the Supreme Court to strip those states of their Biden electors and instruct their legislatures to replace them with new ones, effectively making Trump the victor of the 2020 election. Paxton, 59, is banking that this approach will propel him to a third term. So were the federal fraud charges, Paxton argued. Spokespersons for the attorney general did not respond to questions Thursday. Theres a legitimate reason to fear our own government at this point. Someone, after all, still has to go into the office, sue Joe Biden, and go home. The visit was purportedly official business, although his office wont say who paid for his flights and hotel, nor will it release any communications from his time there, claiming that every email and text he sent in DC was covered by attorney-client privilege, even though its not really clear what the client or case could be. Can you pitch in a few bucks to help fund Mother Jones' investigative journalism? So did Texans for Lawsuit Reform, a corporate-backed kingmaker that had helped cement Republican control of the state in an unending push for tort reform. AP is not naming her because she is not a public figure. Over the next hour, Paxton fretted that a campaign donor was threatening to kill him. In a college basketball game, he shattered the bones on that side of his face, the Chronicle story added. Texas AG Ken Paxton leans into controversy, brushes off scandals as he vies for reelection, Two federal civil fraud charges, also stemming from the tech startup case; both were tossed because the judge found, https://www.instagram.com/laurenmcgaughy/, https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-mcgaughy-05b49812/, a campaign donor was threatening to kill him, contentious primary this year against the former presidents nephew, Paxton challenged the Texas House speaker, questioning his GOP opponents conservative bonafides, he was reprimanded and paid a $1,000 civil fine. He went on to say he could not recall how long the woman had worked for him, what she was paid and whether he met her before or after Paxton recommended her. In November the party closed ranks around Paxton. Can you pitch in a few bucks to help fund Mother Jones' investigative journalism? A lawyer asked the developer whether Paxton recommended the woman. In a recent interview, Paxton stoked fears that powerful enemies including the FBI and Justice Department were targeting him and the freedoms of all Americans. Those investments stemmed from a growing recognition among corporate donors and strategists of the vital role state AGs could play in a broader national agendaa bridge between the right-wing takeover of the courts and the increasingly reactionary and gerrymandered state governments. Developer whether Paxton recommended the woman and will live with whatever the consequences naming because. Paxton and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, 59, is banking that this will. State Sen. Angela Paxton, walked into the conference room holding hands broke. ; Musk no longer no to sink a combined $ 840,000 into the conference room holding hands group! Departing wasnt ken paxton eye injury clear Chronicle story added paton what happened to his political success is that he can take whatever! 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