It seems that the once great state of Texas elected an admitted law breaker as its top cop.
It also seems that the law breaker and his network of cronies and protectionists hoped no one would notice.
Prior to the November election several Texas newspaper editorial boards tried to warn voters about then candidate Ken Paxton's past criminal activity. Unfortunately Republican voters didn't hear or they ignored the prediction and voted a straight R ticket, anyway. And now this election outcome is coming back to haunt all of us. Of course, I can't blame this debacle on straight ticket Republican voters alone. Non-voters share the burden of guilt as well.
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?
Despite the fact it was public knowledge that Paxton failed to register with the securities board three times, nothing happened. No inquiries were made. The reason investment firms are required to register with the securities board is to protect the public from fraud and scams. By his failure to register did Ken Paxton want to operate without detection?
Fortunately the group Texans for Public Justice asked the Travis Co. (Austin) DA to explore the matter. It wants answers.
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.
Birds of a feather flock together.
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.
The Dallas Morning News' editorial is correct about the public's faith in the justice system. After years of Rick Perry and his reign of crony capitalism and corruption, much of our faith in the Texas justice system is severely shaken.
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.
There is a reason why the Collin Co. DA's office is
stonewalling on the Paxton case.
The rationale for waffling, passing the buck.
"The Collin County district attorney is just stonewalling," said Texans for Public Justice Executive Director Craig McDonald, who added that no one from District Attorney Greg Willis' office had informed his group the case had stalled or told him how to proceed. "Within the week, I will do something in Collin County, once I find out what I have to do."
Willis' office last week said it was not investigating the allegations against Paxton, despite the case being referred to it by the Travis County District Attorney's Office in late January.
"We are not an investigative agency. So a complainant should be directed to the Collin County law enforcement agency where the acts occurred so an investigation could take place," Collin County First Assistant District Attorney Bill Dobiyanski told the Houston Chronicle on Friday. "If and when that occurs, a case may be filed with our office. Our position is anyone with knowledge of a crime occurring in Collin County should report that to the police department where the acts occurred."
I wonder if the statute of limitations has anything to do with the stonewalling?
The statute of limitations for a third-degree felony is three years. With neither Collin County nor the Texas Department of Public Safety currently investigating the matter, Paxton could be on a path this year to be clear of any possible further punishment for the violations unless the case is revived.
McDonald said that while he was surprised his Austin-based group was not informed of the need to refile a complaint with law enforcement, he was not shocked that the case had stalled in Willis' office.
"We've never been made aware by Collin County or any other authority that our complaint would sit in a filing cabinet unless we took further action," McDonald said. "We were always skeptical that the district attorney would do anything but sit on this case because we believe there is a close relationship between Paxton and the Collin County DA. This whole system that sends cases back to the local DA is a system designed to give politicians a walk, especially if that politician happens now to be the attorney general."
Of course the Paxton camp smacks a "liberal" group for daring to ask for accountability of the state's top cop. But let us remember that the Texas Republican Party has abhorred the notions of transparency and accountability for decades. So I imagine both would be considered liberal evil doing acts, especially when the state is pervaded by crony capitalists and crooks that like to operate in the dark.
"It's not surprising that a liberal group is trying to revive a dead issue that has long been resolved, a matter previously reviewed by at least three different investigative bodies," said Holm.
It's not a dead issue because you want it dead, dude. Two big Texas newspapers have nailed you. And so has other groups such as
Texans for Public Justice, (a non-partisan group, by the way), the
Lone Star Project, the
Texas Progressive Alliance as well as other citizen activists, journalists and bloggers who rely on social media.
Unfortunately turning a blind eye to corruption is not uncommon in Republican Texas.
Let's make sure we all vote next time. Battleground TX will be cranking up its gears this coming summer. Get involved or get screwed. I am sorry for expressing this feeling so inelegantly and crudely but it has come down to the ugliest ugliness called the Texas Republican cartel of corruption.