Ken Paxton

Ken Paxton
Paxton in 2021
51st Attorney General of Texas
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 5, 2015
Suspended: May 27, 2023 – September 16, 2023[a]
GovernorRick Perry
Greg Abbott
Preceded byGreg Abbott
Member of the Texas Senate
from the 8th district
In office
January 8, 2013 – January 4, 2015
Preceded byFlorence Shapiro
Succeeded byVan Taylor
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 70th district
In office
January 14, 2003 – January 8, 2013
Preceded byDavid Counts
Succeeded byScott Sanford
Personal details
Born
Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr.

(1962-12-23) December 23, 1962 (age 61)
Minot, North Dakota, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseAngela Allen
Children4
EducationBaylor University (BA, MBA)
University of Virginia (JD)

Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr.[2] (born December 23, 1962) is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the attorney general of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the Texas Senate representing the eighth district and as a member of the Texas House of Representatives.

Paxton rose to power as an ally of the Tea Party movement[3] and has been described as an ultraconservative[2][3][4][5] or far-right[6][7][8][9] politician. As attorney general, Paxton has appointed prominent opponents of LGBT rights to leading positions within his department. In June 2022, Paxton said he would defend state laws prohibiting consensual same-sex relationships if the Supreme Court precedent invalidating such laws, the Lawrence v. Texas decision, was overturned.[10] He has sued president Joe Biden's administration nearly 50 times.[6][9] He supports a near-total ban on abortion access.[4] After Biden won the 2020 U.S. presidential election and Donald Trump refused to concede while making claims of election fraud, Paxton aided Trump in his efforts to overturn the result. He filed the unsuccessful Texas v. Pennsylvania case in the U.S. Supreme Court and spoke at the rally Trump held on January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C., that immediately preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol.[11][5]

Paxton was indicted in 2015 on state securities fraud charges relating to activities prior to taking office; he has pleaded not guilty. The case was delayed over various procedural issues, but in October 2023 his trial was scheduled for April 2024.[12][13][14] In October 2020, several high-level assistants in Paxton's office accused him of "bribery, abuse of office and other crimes."[15][16] Paxton was impeached with bipartisan approval in May 2023 by the Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives by a vote of 121–23, leading to his suspension.[17] The articles of impeachment included allegations that Paxton gave preferential treatment to a political donor who bribed him, misapplied public resources and made false statements against whistleblowers, obstructed justice in the securities fraud trial against him, and made false statements regarding his financial interests.[21] In September 2023, the Texas Senate voted 16–14 to acquit Paxton of all articles of impeachment, ending his suspension from office.[22][23] Paxton is separately being investigated by federal prosecutors for the same legal issues on coinciding federal statutes.[24]

  1. ^ McGaughy, Lauren; Morris, Allie (May 27, 2023). "Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Impeached". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on May 26, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Mr. Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr". State Bar of Texas. Archived from the original on October 4, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Paul J. Weber, "Indicted Texas attorney general rode tea party to power" Archived May 28, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, Associated Press (August 4, 2015).
  4. ^ a b Tuma, Mary (June 28, 2022). "Ken Paxton Wants to Ban Abortions Before Texas's Trigger Law Kicks In. A Judge Has Said No, for Now". Texas Monthly. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  5. ^ a b Tedesco, John. "Ken Paxton refuses to release emails, texts sent at Trump rally that devolved into U.S. Capitol riot". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on August 1, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Kate McGee, "As attorney general, Paxton's ideological crusades have drowned out his day job" Archived May 28, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, Texas Tribune (May 27, 2023): "Undeterred by accusations of securities fraud, misuse of his political office and bribery, Paxton relentlessly pursued first a far-right agenda."
  7. ^ Narea, Nicole (September 5, 2023). "The impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, explained". Vox. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  8. ^ Salam, Erum; Yang, Maya (September 16, 2023). "Texas's impeached attorney general acquitted by fellow Republicans". The Guardian. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Brooks, Brad; Caspani, Maria (May 30, 2023). "Texas House votes to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton". Reuters. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  10. ^ Dunbar, Wells (July 1, 2022). "Ken Paxton says state could prosecute sodomy laws should Supreme Court, Texas law allow it". Texas Standard. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  11. ^ Coleen Long; Ed White (December 8, 2020). "Trump thought courts were key to winning. Judges disagreed". Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  12. ^ "Seven Years Later, Still No Trial for Texas AG Ken Paxton". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press. May 23, 2022. Archived from the original on November 5, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  13. ^ Rakich, Nathaniel (October 11, 2022). "The Most Important Attorney General And Secretary Of State Races To Watch". FiveThirtyEight. Archived from the original on November 5, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  14. ^ "Texas AG Ken Paxton's securities fraud trial set for April, more than 8 years after indictment". Associated Press. October 20, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  15. ^ Platoff, Emma (October 6, 2020). "As Ken Paxton faces criminal allegations, an agency at war with itself must carry on the state's business". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on October 7, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  16. ^ "AP Sources: FBI is investigating Texas attorney general" Archived November 21, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, Associated Press
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference WaPo 2023-05-27 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference AOI1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference AOI2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference AOI3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ [18][19][20]
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference Jasper was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference Adkinson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ "A breakdown of the federal investigation into Texas AG Ken Paxton", Austin American-Statesman (May 26, 2023).


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