THE PAXTON TAX: Ken Paxton’s Corruption Has Cost Texas Taxpayers Millions – Here Are The Receipts
AUSTIN, TX — Ken Paxton’s decade of corruption have cost Texas taxpayers millions, from footing the bills for his luxury vacations abroad to paying for the lucrative state contracts and legal decisions to benefit his donors and wealthy friends.
But don’t take our word for it, here are the receipts and stories Texans have been reading as they make their way to the polls:
Paxton cost taxpayers over $3 million taking 350+ trips to exotic destinations like Aruba, Greece, and his 15 properties across America, according to an investigation by the New York Times as well as ProPublica & The Texas Tribune. Ethics experts called Paxton’s actions a clear “misuse of public funds” with the former head of the National Association of Attorneys General describing Paxton’s taxpayer abuse as, “beyond the pale of anything that’s ever been brought to my attention.”
Texas taxpayers will pay over $12 million for Paxton illegally firing whistleblowers who reported his corruption to the FBI and his impeachment by his own party for bribery & abuse of office.
Paxton repeatedly used his position as Attorney General to write legal opinions favoring his wealthy donors, while screwing over working Texans. The Washington Post found Paxton “received campaign contributions from the staff or political arms of five organizations with interests in legal matters on which his office weighed in” choosing his donors over working Texans. With a separate San Antonio Current investigation finding Paxton pocketed thousands in campaign contributions from predatory loan companies before opening up a loophole for these companies to charge higher interest rates to veterans and military families.
Paxton seemingly took over 700 days off, leaving his official calendars completely blank, while collecting his government salary and abusing his office to further enrich himself, according to an investigation by the Associated Press.
Tens of millions in taxpayer dollars were wasted by Paxton doling out lucrative state contracts to private lawyers and his friends despite Texas having more than 700 lawyers in the AGs office, according to a probe by ProPublica & The Texas Tribune. One lawyer working on cases for the AG’s office went from costing $641 a day when employed by the state to costing taxpayers nearly $25,000 a day after going private, with one firm even billing $97 million for a single case.
Texas Democratic Party Spokesperson Ryan Martin said:
“Ken Paxton represents everything about the corrupt, rigged system that Texans hate and is driving up their costs. The only thing Corrupt Ken cares about is lining his own pockets and helping his wealthy donors get richer. Texans are fed up with crooked politicians who rig the rules for their billionaire donors and stick working families with the bill, and it’s exactly why they will send Paxton packing in just 5 days.”
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