An agreement was recently struck in a case concerning Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was indicted on two counts of first-degree securities fraud and one count of not registering.
Fox News reported that the agreement with federal prosecutors forces Paxton to pay around $300,000 in restitution to eliminate the charges brought against him nearly a decade ago.
“For over a decade, my family and I have been dealing with the ongoing stress of these accusations and are relieved to finally have a resolution in this matter,” Paxton said. “The prosecution came to us to begin negotiations and we were able to come to an agreement on terms. There will never be a conviction in this case nor am I guilty.”
“I look forward to putting this behind me,” Paxton added. “I want to thank my family, team, and supporters for sticking by my side. Dealing with a 10-year case looking over our heads was no easy task. I am glad to move on and will provide further comment in the weeks ahead.”
My Statement on The Conclusion of Decade Long Political Prosecution: pic.twitter.com/Rab1ZAxkl8
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) March 26, 2024
While reacting to Paxton’s statement, Texas Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick (R) pointed out that the Texas attorney general had suffered nine years of political retaliation directed from his “enemies” in the state House.
“The actions from the Court in Houston highlighted the lack of any real evidence — the prosecution was wise to save themselves the embarrassment of a courtroom defeat,” Patrick wrote.
Attorney General @KenPaxtonTX has suffered 9 years of political harassment instigated at the hands of his enemies in the Texas House. The actions from the Court in Houston highlighted the lack of any real evidence – the prosecution was wise to save themselves the embarrassment of…
— Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) March 26, 2024
Patrick added that the case against Paxton is similar to impeachment efforts in the Texas House, where state legislators “fabricated” a case that failed upon reaching the Texas Senate.
This bears a striking similarity to the impeachment debacle where @KenPaxtonTX’s political enemies in the House fabricated a case that collapsed during trial in the Senate. Paxton should get the back pay the House took from him.
— Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) March 26, 2024
The deal comes weeks before Paxton is set to face trial on the charges, where he could have faced nearly 100 years if found guilty.
In July 2015, the Texas attorney general was indicted “on charges of allegedly misleading and defrauding wealthy tech startup investors and failing to disclose that the startup was paying him to promote its assets,” according to the Post Millennial.
Paxton was also fined in 2014 for not revealing that he was receiving commissions for soliciting investors to Texas securities regulators.
