AGOTX - Warren Kenneth “Ken” Paxton Junior

[raison de arizona]

Ken Paxton with Roseanne Barr at Mar-a-Lago.

[bill_g]

She's looking pretty good for her age, but I still can't stand her.

[Suranis]

Well, shes wearing a LOT of makeup there. She was looking a lot older last time I saw her. *shrug*

[Slim Cognito]

Once upon a time I really liked her original show. Kinda sad really.

[Suranis]

Ya, I watched Rozanne back in the day. I still say it was a good show. Launched the careers of a few very good actors as well.

[bill_g]

Once upon a time I really liked her original show. Kinda sad really.

We watched her show back in the days of rabbit ears on top of the set. She was actually funny back then.

[Volkonski]

Judge sets trial date in Texas AG Paxton’s long-delayed fraud case

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watc ... press.coop

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is slated to go to trial on securities fraud charges on April 15 after being delayed for years.

State District Judge Andrea Bell scheduled the trial date during a hearing for Paxton on Monday, according to The Texas Tribune. While Paxton attended the hearing, the news outlet said he did not speak.

Paxton was indicted on two felony counts of securities fraud eight years ago, but the case has been continually delayed over various disputes, including where the trial should be held. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in June that the trial will remain in Houston, clearing an obstacle for many of the pretrial disputes.

Paxton’s legal team suggested it was optimistic ahead of the trial date.

“I think this will be a fair trial. We have a fair judge,” defense attorney Philip Hilder told reporters, according to KXAN. “This is about the money for the special prosecutors. It’s not about justice.”

The new trial date comes on the heels Paxton’s impeachment trial last month, where he faced accusations of misusing his office to benefit a real estate developer, Nate Paul, his friend and campaign donor.

A jury of state senators voted to acquit him on all 16 articles of impeachment. The decision to acquit came after eight days of witness testimony and one day of closing arguments.

Paxton has also been under investigation by the FBI since October 2020 over allegations of bribery and abuse of office in an effort to help a real estate developer and wealthy donor, the Associated Press reported at the time.

[bob]

Where's the weaponization of government committee when there's actual weaponizing?

[Ben-Prime]

Where's the weaponization of government committee when there's actual weaponizing?

Haven't the Democrats on the committee managed to send Jordan a public letter about this yet? I mean, they could finesse it. "Mister Chairman, we have received word of a state law enforcement official carrying on a private vendetta through public lawfare and would like to bring that official before us for a frank public conversation."

[Suranis]

Jordan still hasn't realized he failed to be speaker, so he's busy.

[raison de arizona]

[raison de arizona]

TX AG Ken Paxton says he has opened up an investigation of Media Matters over their dispute with Musk, and they could face heavy penalties.

[raison de arizona]

BREAKING: I am suing Pfizer for misrepresenting Covid-19 vaccine efficacy and conspiring to censor public discourse.

[AndyinPA]

[Slim Cognito]

Yeah, because THAT'S what the people of Texas want from their AG.

[AndyinPA]

Yeah, because THAT'S what the people of Texas want from their AG.

It's Texas. They might.

[raison de arizona]

jfc, this guy gets ALL the breaks
https://x.com/KenPaxtonTX/status/173103 ... 76925?s=20

Well done, @TexasGOP.

JUST IN: In the latest fallout from the Ken Paxton impeachment saga, the executive committee of the Republican Party of Texas just voted to censure outgoing Rep. Andrew Murr, who led the House committee that brought the impeachment charges. 61 yays, 0 nos, 2 abstentions. #txlege

[raison de arizona]

Turns out Paxton hasn't been being ethical. I mean, about something new.

AG Ken Paxton has bought several properties worth millions. He’s yet to publicly disclose them.

The Copper Canyon Lodge in Broken Bow, Okla., “has everything,” according to vacation rental website Vrbo.

Floor-to-ceiling windows. A hot tub. Five bedrooms. A “private chef, masseuse, or housekeeping” on request. A one-night stay costs several hundred dollars. Copper Canyon is undoubtedly the “luxe rustic retreat” its advertisement promises.

What’s not obvious about the lodge is its apparent owner: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

According to local property records, Paxton bought a $1.6 million rental property matching the lodge’s location and description in early 2022. But he hasn’t disclosed the property anywhere on the transparency paperwork he’s required to file with the state.

Texas law requires public officials to file annual personal financial reports detailing how they make their money and where it goes. Homes they own, as well as stocks, business interests and other income go on the reports.

The purposes of the disclosures are to ensure officials don’t have conflicts of interest and to strengthen public confidence in elected representatives.

That means the attorney general still hasn’t publicly disclosed the Oklahoma property — or at least five others out of state that he or his blind trust own, many of which were purchased in the last few years.

Paxton and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, own another home near Tampa, Florida, and a blind trust he created a number of years ago is listed as the owner of four more properties in Florida, Hawaii and Utah. None were disclosed on Paxton’s annual financial report this year.

https://www.kut.org/politics/2023-12-07 ... ce-reports

[AndyinPA]

Laws are for little people.

[Kendra]

https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/seattle ... t-records/

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Seattle Children’s Hospital filed a lawsuit in Travis County District Court on Dec. 7 against the Texas Office of the Attorney General (OAG), after that agency requested documents related to gender transition policies and any such care provided to Texas children.

However, hospital claims that the OAG lacks jurisdiction to demand such records from the hospital, and that Washington’s “Shield Law” protects it from requests made by states that “restrict or criminalize reproductive and gender-affirming care.”

OutLaw: Helping or hurting trans kids? Health care fight continues after law
“The Shield Law prohibits Washington-based entities such as Seattle Children’s from ‘[c]omply[ing] with subpoena, warrant, court order, or other civil or criminal legal process for records, information, facilities, or assistance related to protected health care services that are lawful in the state of Washington,'” the lawsuit stated.

KXAN reached out to the OAG multiple times prior to publication; however, the agency never replied to our requests.

What does the OAG want?
According to copies of the OAG’s requests (included in the hospital’s lawsuit), the OAG sent two demands — a civil investigative demand and a notice of demand for sworn written statement.

The first demand, which has an issue date of Nov. 17, told the hospital that the OAG was investigating “misrepresentations regarding Gender Transitioning and Reassignment Treatments and Procedures and Texas law” that allegedly violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act.

[raison de arizona]

I’m glad Washington has a go fuck yerself Shield Law. Terrifying that Paxton is trying to chase Texans, wherever they flee to.

[much ado]

I’m glad Washington has a go fuck yerself Shield Law. Terrifying that Paxton is trying to chase Texans, wherever they flee to.

It would be interesting to know if any states have been forced to comply.

Any way to find out?

[sugar magnolia]

I’m glad Washington has a go fuck yerself Shield Law. Terrifying that Paxton is trying to chase Texans, wherever they flee to.

It would be interesting to know if any states have been forced to comply.

Any way to find out?

I think TX is the only one stupid enough to think it would apply.

[pipistrelle]

So he’s going after random hospitals in states thousands of miles away.

[shannon]

Came here to post this. We know that Paxton is a corrupt asshole prone to performative lawsuits, but he seems to think Seattle is part of Texas. Or he's trying to establish that, if you live in or have parents in Texas, Texas law trumps state and federal laws. Or that if you moved FROM Texas, you're still subject to said laws.

Bear in mind that, until the GOP's resent jihad on transgender people, Texas had the third largest transgender population in the US. And that, as a result of the Texas GOP and assholes like Paxton, Texas has been suffering a brain drain as women, transgender adults, and parents seeking gender-affirmative care for their underage children, get the fucking hell out of the right wing hellscape that is modern-day Texas. If this had worked, Paxton could have very well gone after former residents of Texas receiving medical care that is legal in their new states, but illegal or criminalized in Texas. Which isn't just gender-affirmative care, since the same logic could be applied to reproductive care as well.

Think I'm kidding? Look at Exhibit B. Notice the "reside(d)". Basically if the patient HAD resided in Texas, the Texas AG's office is saying that Texas law STILL applies.



Anyway, Erin in the Morning has more on this, and points out how this could very well be used to target reproductive care:

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/texas-ag-threatens-seattle-hospital

"Seattle responded to the request by filing a lawsuit in Travis County, stating they cannot comply because Texas has no jurisdiction in Washington State, and no care was provided by the hospital in Texas. They also point out that the Dormant Commerce Clause, protected by the United States Constitution, “protects the right to interstate travel, including to obtain healthcare services.” By targeting out-of-state hospitals for enforcement of laws that only apply within the jurisdiction of Texas, they “discriminate against healthcare based on an interstate element,” violating constitutional protections, according to the legal filing. Lastly, Seattle Children’s Hospital cannot comply due to a shield law passed by Washington State. This law bars the hospital from providing any patient data and from responding to subpoenas pursuant to “protected healthcare services” obtained within the jurisdiction of Washington. Protected healthcare services include abortion, reproductive care, and gender-affirming care."

One problem is that the Texas Supreme Court favors the AG:

"Regardless of what the local court decides, the claims are likely to go to the Texas Supreme Court. Given that the claims also have a time limit on them and that appeals in Texas automatically favor the attorney general due to an automatic lifting of stays in the state, Seattle Children’s Hospital workers and providers for trans patients from Texas could be under legal jeopardy."