D.C. Department of Justice Takes Over Texas AG Corruption Investigation

The move is the latest development in the federal investigation into Paxton, who came under scrutiny by the FBI in 2020.

WASHINGTON. Justice Department officials in Washington have taken over the corruption investigation of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, taking the case out of the hands of Texas federal prosecutors, who state prosecutors say have long led the investigation.

The move is the latest development in a federal investigation into Paxton, who came under scrutiny from the FBI in 2020 after his own senior deputies accused him of bribery and malpractice to help one of his campaigners who also hired a woman. with whom the General’s attorney admitted that he had an extramarital affair.

The three-term Republican is currently being investigated by the Justice Department’s Division of Public Integrity, which is pursuing allegations of official misconduct against elected leaders at the local, state, and federal levels. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Texas recently recieved himself from participating in a complex case after working on it for years – a drastic change that came just days after Paxton agreed to apologize and pay $3.3 million in taxpayer money. four former employees who reported him to the prosecutor’s office. FBI.

Public prosecutors leading a separate securities fraud case against Paxton — Brian Wise and Kent Shaffer — said in a statement to the Associated Press on Thursday that they were notified of the move. They referred all questions to the Ministry of Justice, which declined to comment.

It’s unclear what prompted senior Justice Department officials to recuse federal prosecutors in West Texas, but Paxton’s lawyers prompted the move. One of his lawyers, Dan Cogdell, said on Thursday that he had previously approached agency officials asking them to remove the case from the local U.S. attorney’s office because prosecutors had an “obvious conflict.”

“It was the right thing to do,” Cogdell said. He said federal officials did not inform him of the move and declined to comment further.

It is also unknown if Paxton will be charged, although investigators in Texas who worked on the case believed there was enough evidence to charge him, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Eight senior Paxton employees charged him with crimes in 2020 after the attorney general hired an outside lawyer to investigate claims of wrongdoing by an Austin property developer by FBI agents and federal prosecutors who separately investigated the developer. These agents and attorneys are from the same federal prosecutor’s district as those who came to investigate the Paxton case.

The coincidence was known to officials at the Justice Department and was publicly reported by the AP within weeks of Paxton’s staff contacting the FBI. However, the agency left the investigation to be led by a professional federal prosecutor from San Antonio, who was previously best known for winning a money laundering and fraud case against a Democratic state senator.

The federal investigation into Paxton has expanded over the years after his former employees told the FBI he was committing crimes to help developer Nate Paul. He came to look at Paxton’s million-dollar renovations, but also dragged on as the leadership of the US Attorney’s Office in West Texas changed repeatedly.

Paxton and Paul generally denied wrongdoing.

Over the years, Paxton has taken little political toll from a federal investigation and a separate securities fraud indictment in 2015, for which he has yet to face trial. He handily defeated challenger George P. Bush in the contested GOP primary last spring, then decisively defeated his Democratic opponent to secure a third term in November, and has been constantly suing the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden. The Public Integrity Section has launched a number of high-profile prosecutions over the past decades. One of its former leaders, Jack Smith, is now a special adviser to the Justice Department overseeing investigations into the possession of classified documents by former President Donald Trump, as well as efforts by Trump and his allies to reverse the 2020 election results.

Although the unit received significant convictions, it also experienced notable setbacks.

The section was involved in the prosecution of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, but the case was later overturned by the Supreme Court. The section also impeached former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards, but the jury acquitted him on one count and deadlocked on others. The Justice Department refused to try him again. The jury also deadlocked in the case of New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial.

Tucker reported from Washington.

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