Facing three felony counts of securities law violations, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was arrested, fingerprinted and photographed Monday morning for alleged violations that took place when he was a state legislator.
Indicted by a Collin County grand jury last week, Paxton surrendered at the county jail in his hometown of McKinney, avoiding assembled reporters by entering through a side door.
He posted three personal-recognizance bonds for a total of $35,000 — no money was required to change hands — before being released about 20 minutes later.
“Attorney General Ken Paxton will plead not guilty to these accusations, and he will demand a trial by jury,” Paxton lawyer Joe Kendall said afterward. “He is looking forward to the opportunity to tell his side of the story in the courtroom.”
Democrats called for Paxton to step down, while Republican leaders asked the public to let the legal process play out.
It’s Texas and he’s a white Republican, so he’ll prolly walk. But for now, fun.
Howard Beale IV
He’s got the same smarmy booking look as The Bug Man did.
max
It’s Texas and he’s a white Republican, so he’ll prolly walk. But for now, fun.
Crap, if they got a Collin County grand jury to indict him, it must of been pretty rank.
max
[‘But yeah, this is going to drag on for some months at least.’]
JPL
Today the Washington Post had a post about Graham’s service in the Reserves and obviously, it is okay if you are Republican. Nightly news did not mention any scandals that have to do with Repubs.
Benw
He already walked. Sandra Bland was jailed for three days for a lane change violation and didn’t walk on bail.
Germy Shoemangler
Has anyone else seen this, or posted it?
A confederate flag supporter is confronted for wearing FUBU sneakers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbgRwH7GxUU
SiubhanDuinne
@Howard Beale IV:
That’s one of those photos where it’s really interesting to block off one half of the face, and then the other, and see how very very different they are. Just cover the left side of the photo (your left) and he looks all happy and cheerful. Then switch sides, cover the right half, and he is sad and depressed and kind of shifty. Fascinating.
JPL
@Germy Shoemangler: I didn’t watch it but I guess the guy was impressed with the fact that FUBU uses the same colors as the Klan. I was surprised because I picture the Klan in white sheets.
Tree With Water
Texas has a long way to go before they eclipse the public official vs. state prison ratio justly celebrated by the great state of Illinois.
srv
Some day there will be no liberal DA’s left in TX.
And in good news, a liberal is mugged by reality:
Hoocoodanode?
JPL
@Tree With Water: Does that put Illinois or Texas in a better light. It appears that Illinois is not afraid to go after convictions. I lived in TX several years.
Roger Moore
@JPL:
That was about what I was going to say. It’s not that Illinois is more corrupt than Texas, just that they’re actually willing to throw corrupt officials in prison.
JaneE
His career in the GOP is made. A felony arrest for fraud is a big leg up. A conviction in Federal court could disqualify him from some offices, but not others. A NOLO plea is probably the best of both worlds like Scott in Florida.
kdaug
@max:
Damned straight. I grew up in a little slice of hell called Plano. Rich, white, conservative knob-polishers, the lot of them. The fact that he got an indictment from his country-club buddies says a lot.
dr. bloor
He won’t see the inside of a prison. The only, small consolation is that Joe Kendall will make a dent in his stack.
raven
@kdaug: Used to go to Oswego for the drags. Lot’s of family lived in West Chicago so I’m familiar with the area.
Keith G
He might, but our Texas media has not detailed how strong the evidence is. Interestingly enough, one of the complainants is a fellow Republican office holder, thus the phrase, “partisan witch hunt” is less likely to be used.
Whatever happens, it’s gonna take a fair amount of scratch to defend against those charges.
Tree With Water
@JPL: The personal tragedy of the thing aside, I sort of enjoy seeing Illinois officials imprisoned for corruption. So I’d say the bragging rights of the thing belong to folks in the Land of Lincoln.
ThresherK
@Germy Shoemangler: “For the Union, By the Union”?
(I am juuuust barely hip enough to know what FUBU stands for, but couldn’t resist the gag.)
El Caganer
Maybe indicting state AGs will become a trend – we’re on the verge of indicting the AG here in Pennsylvania, too, although for a very different reason.
Hal
@srv: I love that this story is making rounds in conservative media with that particular spin you would expect separate from the original NY times story. Like how he gained new clients, or how one of those employees left because he felt the money would be too enticing to every leave. How the other decided some of her coworkers didn’t that kind of money (oh, and she was also approaching job burnout) so she quit. Take that coworkers!
Omnes Omnibus
@ThresherK: “For Us, By Us.”
RSA
Funny how that works, in Texas versus in Louisiana.
scav
@Hal: The celebration of personal greed uber alles is rather the usual icing. No doubt they’ll soon roll out the latest trend in upper employee emotional compensation packages. “We at MagaCorp are most concerned about employee self-esteem. Or order to make our top performers feel personally validated, we’ve ordered an immediate slash of all lower employees take-home pay, effective immediately!”
srv
@Hal: I give him 6 months. You can’t survive when all your best are going Galt.
ms_canadada
@Germy Shoemangler: They’re just so stooopid! This is John Oliver material, for sure.
“Bless us and save us,” said Mrs. O’Davis.
Archon
@srv:
In your opinion, what’s the moral to this story?
hellslittlestangel
And he wants a jury trial, so he’s probably guilty.
Hal
@srv: But that’s what’s happening. Those two will find that they are far more easily replaced than they realize. There was also a while section in the times about people who are benefiting from the pay raises. I would urge anyone to read the original story and not just this conservative suck it libtards version from fox or the Washington Times.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/business/a-company-copes-with-backlash-against-the-raise-that-roared.html?referrer=
Hal
@Hal: not what’s happening, I meant.
Another Holocene Human
@Omnes Omnibus: I suggest you recalibrate your snark meter.
Brachiator
@srv: So far you have yet to ever post anything that demonstrated anything meaningful about conservative v liberal ideology, or even the time of day. What this employer did is not socialism, and I don’t know whether there was some level of increased wages that would have been more reasonable. I don’t know much how productivity was affected.
BTW, compare corporate boards where members all get similar salaries that bear no relation to any work they do. Is that socialism!
Keith P.
“In prison, he’ll be the pie.”
RaflW
Not, “He is innocent and we will clear his name and demand an apology.” Just tell his side of the story. He’s on his way out…
jayjaybear
@Archon: “Don’t ever do anything good for anybody because…um…CONSERVATIVES RUUUULE!” Alternatively, “This is a great tool to troll BJ with tonight!”
Lee
Funny thing about Collin County, it is as about a deep red as you can get but it is populated with a bunch of very law & order types. If the trial is in Collin there is a pretty good chance of conviction (assuming the prosecution has & presents a decent case).
bjacques
I think it’s because the fact that the hot tip turned out to be a bum steer for other Tea Party legislators, and probably some of his country club buddies as well.