Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Under Investigation For Legal Defense Donation

AUSTIN, TX — A Kaufman County district attorney is investigating whether Attorney General Ken Paxton violated the law by taking a $100,000 gift from a businessman whose company was investigated for alleged fraud, according to media reports.

Kaufman County District Attorney Erleigh Wiley told The Dallas Morning News on Thursday she was trying to determine if Paxton violated any laws related to state bribery and corrupt practices by accepting the sizable gift from James Webb, whose North Texas medical diagnostic company, Preferred Imaging LLC, paid $3.5 million in settling claims of improperly billing the government for Medicare and Medicaid services performed without appropriate medical supervision.

"There is an active investigation looking into that matter," Wiley, who is a Republican like Paxton, told the newspaper. "We are carefully and thoroughly going through every piece of evidence."

According to the report, Webb gave Paxton $100,000 in 2015 to help Paxton pay for his mounting legal defense bills. As the Texas Tribune and other media outlets reported, Paxton has acknowledged accepting at least $547,000 in gifts for his legal defense.

As the Texas Tribune reported, state bribery laws ban elected officials from accepting gifts from entities or individuals subject to his authority — a provision that extends broadly in Paxton's case given his role as attorney general. In circumventing the clause, Attorney General Paxton cited an "independent relationship" exception allowing gifts from family members and those independent of an officeholder's official status.

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A spokesman for Paxton acknowledged the investigation into the gift but said Paxton broke no laws in accepting Webb's or any other gifts. The spokesman, Matt Welch, told the Texas Tribune: “We have fully cooperated with this inquiry since it began months ago and we have every indication from the Kaufman County DA’s office that it will be completed soon. Attorney General Paxton’s personal financial statement fully complies with Texas ethics laws and has been thoroughly vetted by legal counsel who are ethics experts.”

The new probe into Paxton's dealings comes in the midst of an ongoing investigation accusing him of securities fraud charges dating to 2015. A trial on the securities fraud case has been delayed numerous times for reasons having to do with prosecutors' fees. The case stems from before Paxton became the attorney general — essentially the state's top cop — when he is alleged to have misled investors in a technology company called Servergy.

A Collin County grand jury indicted Paxton on the securities fraud charges and failure to register with the state securities board. Later, the Securities and Exchange Commission followed up with its own probe into the matter. Paxton is accused of recruiting investors for the technology company without revealing he was being paid by the same firm. After the Collin County indictment, Paxton went through the indignity of having to stand for a booking photo (see below). He faces up to 99 years in prison if convicted on those charges, for which he's pleaded not guilty.

In Collin County where Paxton's booking photo was taken, jail officials have historically wrapped a white towel around detainee's necks to minimize any biases that could be drawn from their physical appearance. When the time came for Paxton's mugshot, he was allowed to stand for a photo without the traditional towel, according to reports at the time.

Harris County District Court Judge Robert Johnson delayed a trial on one of three charges Paxton faces over the securities fraud allegations for a third time on Wednesday, which will probably push the trial until 2018, according to media reports.

Wiley told the Dallas Morning News she was nearing a decision whether or not to send the new probe into the $100,000 gift to a grand jury. She added the Texas Rangers and Paxton's legal team both have been cooperative as she investigates the matter.

For his part, the Paxton spokesman blamed the media and his boss's political enemies for the new allegation, saying it was the fault of of “irresponsible media speculation and wishful thinking by political opponents.”

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>>> Uppermost image via State of Texas, top photo via Collin County Jail