After winning impeachment fight, Ken Paxton still faces felony fraud case and an FBI investigation
But Paxton's legal troubles are not over.
He still faces state securities fraud charges, a case that has stretched out for eight years and counting, starting with an indictment just months after he took office in 2015. The case has been delayed for years by pretrial disputes — including a back-and-forth battle over the trial venue that saw it moved to
And Paxton has been under investigation by the
Federal investigators began their investigation after several top Paxton deputies went to the
Federal law experts and former prosecutors contacted by
In the state case, Paxton faces two counts of securities fraud, a first-degree felony that carries a punishment of up to 99 years in prison, stemming from his 2011 efforts to solicit investors in
Speaking to reporters after Saturday's
"That case, like this one, should have never been brought," he said. "They ought to dismiss it. And if they don't dismiss it, we will try them and beat them there just like we beat them here."
"The same motivation to try to delay [the case] would continue from his perspective, and the prosecutors would have the same motivations to move forward," she said. "It's very perilous for a public official to have charges like that against them. Because even if you get them reduced to a misdemeanor, they're still crimes of moral turpitude. So it's problematic."
A conviction, she said, would have made a plea agreement more likely because prosecutors would have less urgency to take the case to trial in an effort to remove him from office.
Last month in a
"At some point, it has to come to an end," special prosecutor
"I don't see how this impeachment has any effects on any of the criminal cases, to be frank — he's not testifying [in the impeachment], which is smart," she said.
Regardless of the impeachment outcome, she said, if Paxton can continue dragging out the state criminal case, "I think that is better for him" because he could then make an argument that his right to a speedy trial was violated.
"You can't have a trial 10 or 12 years after the event," she said. "That's why they have statute of limitations. Witnesses forget things, and the defendant has a right to a trial."
In the federal case, the
Bromwich represented former
It's also an opportunity to evaluate potential witnesses, he added, "because they've now seen, among other things, how some of their key witnesses will actually perform in delivering their testimony, whether they come across as credible, whether they come across as biased or prejudiced against Paxton.
"So I think that it could possibly affect how strong they think their criminal case would be," he said.
According to The Associated Press, federal prosecutors and a grand jury heard testimony from witnesses including
Wicker testified that he grew increasingly uneasy with Paxton's behavior in 2020 — particularly with his close relationship with Paul.
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