Continuing coverage of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

The Associated Press
04/29/2020

Over a year of reporting, Associated Press writers Jake Bleiberg and Paul Weber revealed a variety of ways in which Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton used his office to benefit wealthy donors and political allies -- work that contributed to the Republican's top deputies reporting him to the FBI for alleged crimes. Using sources, discreetly obtained private documents and public records laws across multiple states, the pair broke a series of stories on a highly competitive beat. They revealed that Paxton intervened in the pandemic politics of a small Colorado community in a way that benefited a donor and college classmate; that the criminal allegations against Paxton were linked to the evangelical Christian's previously undisclosed extramarital affair; and that Paxton’s deputies resignations or firings after reporting him to the FBI could cost Texas taxpayers $43 million. For weeks, The Associated Press was the only news outlet that was able to confirm the FBI was investigating Paxton, offering insight into a possible motive for the attorney general suing to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election at a moment when President Donald Trump was considering pardons. Their reporting held politicians to account for ignoring the allegations against the attorney general, prompted the Texas Legislature to grill Paxton on his office’s budget and was cited in a whistleblower lawsuit by Paxton’s accusers. Bleiberg and Weber’s reporting gave Texans and the country an unmatched window into the alleged wrongdoing and ongoing criminal investigation of the state’s top law enforcement officer.

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Submitted by Adam Causey.