Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is under indictment for securities fraud.
Now, though, the Securities and Exchange Commission has weighed in on the attorney general, charging him with a similar misdeed.
Let’s see. A Collin County grand jury — in Paxton’s home county — has issued a criminal indictment. The SEC now has accused the AG of failure to disclose he was being paid a commission for investment advice he was giving.
Is there a pattern here? Does the state of Texas really deserve to be represented by a top legal eagle who’s now under a dual-edged complaint?
As one who believes in the presumption of innocence, I have been reluctant to call for Paxton to step down from this high office.
Until now.
Paxton has proclaimed his innocence. Of course he would, yes?
I recall during the 2014 campaign for attorney general, though, that Paxton — who served in the Texas Legislature — actually admitted to doing what the grand jury accused him of doing when it indicted him. The grand jury indicted him for failing to disclose that he had been paid for the investment advice he gave.
Still, Texas voters elected him.
According to the Texas Tribune: “People recruiting investors have a legal obligation to disclose any compensation they are receiving to promote a stock, and we allege that Paxton and White concealed the compensation they were receiving for touting Servergy’s product,” Shamoil T. Shipchandler, director of the SEC’s Fort Worth regional office, said in a news release on the complaint.
This doesn’t look to me like a political witch hunt. The SEC is a regulatory agency run by professionals who are charged with ensuring that investment policies are followed to the letter.
The grand jury? It’s in the very county Paxton — a Republican — represented in the Legislature. Many of the grand jurors likely voted for the guy.
This doesn’t bode well for the attorney general.
For that matter, it doesn’t bode well for the state’s pursuit of top-notch and credible legal advice from its top lawyer.
I wouldn’t shed a tear if Ken Paxton decided to quit so he could devote his full attention to defending himself against these serious charges.