Texas attorney general’s own office clears him of bribery, abuse of office allegations

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) office cleared him of allegations that he accepted bribes Tuesday, writing in a report that his actions were “lawful, and consistent with his legal duties.”

The 374-page document stated that the multitude of misconduct allegations against Paxton were “either factually incorrect or legally deficient.”

In November of last year, Paxton was sued by a group of whistleblowers who formerly worked for his office or were employed with him at the time, alleging that he “believes he is above” the law.

They accused the attorney general of abusing the law in order to gain personal benefits including hiring a woman he was having an affair with and accepting bribes.

Paxton’s office claimed that the whistleblowers did not provide any evidence that a bribe had been made and said the actions that they accused him of were “pursuant to his legal obligations.”

The complaints were sparked by allegations that Paxton’s office had hired an outside lawyer to investigate claims from a wealthy Austin investor and donor Nate Paul that the FBI had improperly raided his home and office last year.

Paxton’s office stated in its report that no evidence of a quid pro quo relationship between the attorney general and Paul was discovered.

“There is no evidence that Nate Paul attempted to bribe AG Paxton. The Complainants attempt to use a campaign donation as proof of the bribe, however, Paul has made only one campaign donation to AG Paxton in 2018 – not only well before the allegedly improper actions taken by AG Paxton in 2020, but even before the FBI’s 2019 raid that formed the gravamen of Nate Paul’s criminal complaints,” the report read.

His office in turn accused the whistleblowers of violating Texas criminal law, claiming that some of them had misled individuals in order to obtain secret records to provide them to a third party.

Soon after the allegations became public, the FBI reportedly opened an investigation into Paxton. In December, it was reported that the FBI had subpoenaed Paxton’s office for records on its investigation into the allegations of bribery and abuse of office.

The FBI declined to comment on Paxton’s report.