Conservative Texas Paper Calls For Independent Prosecutor

This picture (from the Texas Tribune) is of newly-elected Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The obviously ignorant voters of Texas elected him in spite of the fact that he admits to committing several felonies.

It just goes to show how deeply red this state still is. Paxton had an opponent that was both capable and honest, but the voters decided they would prefer a Republican criminal over an honest and capable Democrat. It seems that honesty is not a value for the teabagger Texas Republicans.

Fortunately, that is not true of some conservatives. The traditionally conservative Dallas Morning News is appalled at the election of a criminal to be the state's attorney general, and they are calling for the appointment of a special prosecutor. Here is what the paper's editorial staff wrote in a recent editorial:

The state’s top law enforcer, Attorney General Ken Paxton, also happens to be an admitted law breaker. That fact failed to deter Texans from electing him to the office in November despite warnings from this newspaper and others that Paxton’s record could come back to haunt him.

Paxton admitted in writing to the Texas State Securities Board in May that he violated the law by soliciting investment clients and accepting fees on commissions without having first registered with the securities board. Under state law, failure to register is a third-degree felony.

Paxton did it repeatedly, in 2004, 2005 and 2012 while serving as a Republican state representative. The securities board issued a reprimand, and Paxton paid a $1,000 fine for the administrative part of this violation. But the question of criminal violations has yet to be addressed. Are prosecutors willing to initiate a case against the man who now occupies the attorney general’s seat?

Last year, the Austin-based group Texans for Public Justice asked Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg to look into the case. She determined that Travis County wasn’t the proper venue and referred it in January to prosecutors in Collin County, where Paxton’s offices were based, and Dallas County, where some of the securities work occurred. Neither county appears to have acted so far.

Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice, says the group will send a letter Monday asking those prosecutors to follow up.

The matter gets tricky for Collin County, where District Attorney Greg Willis could determine whether to prosecute. Willis and Paxton are longtime friends. Both are listed on the most recent board of directors online filing of Plano-based Unity Resources LLC. They are limited partners together in three firms and co-investors in another.

Against that backdrop of multiple conflicts, Willis is hard-pressed to explain why he shouldn’t recuse himself and seek appointment of a special prosecutor who can objectively weigh the merits of the case. The public’s faith in the justice system requires that there be no hint of prosecutorial bias or that staffers under Willis’ direction might fail to pursue justice to protect their boss and his friend.

Willis’ office says there has been no prosecutorial action since the case was referred from Lehmberg’s office. Dallas County District Attorney Susan Hawk’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

These are not nitpicky issues. State securities law imposes registration requirements to protect the public from victimization by investment frauds and scams.

The fact that Paxton violated the law repeatedly over several years suggests a troubling pattern unbecoming of the esteemed office he now holds. That’s why an independent prosecutor needs to assume control of this case.