The office of the Attorney General of Texas has released a 374-page internal report stating Ken Paxton didn't commit the crime of abuse of office.
Paxton is accused of using his office to help Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, who donated $25,000 to Paxton's campaign in 2018.
SMU political scientist Cal Jillson says the eight former office attorneys who blew the whistle on Paxton and are pursuing charges against Paxton are scoffing at the report. "The people who still work for him have written this report and put and it out here. The people who were either fired by him or resigned after having accused the Attorney General of wrongdoing are having none of it."
Eight former employees say Paul helped Paxton remodel his home and got a job for a woman the attorney general is alleged to have had an affair with. Four of them are suing Paxton for retaliation.
Jillson calls the report an "interesting political move that has little or no legal weight."
Jillson says the big question is, who exactly wrote this report, why it was written, and what authority stands behind it. He says this report will draw far more questions that it will purport to answer, going on to say that there are other investigations of these same facts, including one by the FBI and he says the FBI won't be persuaded by this report.
On a related matter, Jillson notes Paxton was indicted six years ago for securities fraud and has never gone to court. "I think the FBI investigation of his activities as Attorney General in regard to Mr. Paul will bear some fruit. The FBI is not so easily dissuaded as local prosecutors."
Paxton, a Republican, is running for a third term next year. He is being opposed by Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman.
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