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AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will face trial on April 15 for long pending allegations of securities fraud, a judge ruled Monday.
Paxton’s case is set for trial in Houston this spring after roughly eight years of fighting over the venue and lawyers fees related to accusations that the attorney general illegally courted investors in a McKinney company without disclosing the financial benefits he received.
A trial could be the greatest threat to Paxton’s political career and would come just seven months after he was cleared of all charges in his impeachment trial in the Texas Senate. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.
The criminal trial has continued to threaten the attorney general almost since he first took office as Texas’ top law enforcement official in 2015.
Paxton attended the brief hearing in the 185th District Court in Harris County, where his defense team attempted to have the court take up the issues related to pay for the team of special prosecutors in the case. Presiding Judge Andrea Beall said that their pay was not relevant to Paxton’s defense team and would rule later on the matter, special prosecutor Kent Schaffer said.
The prosecutors in the case have not been paid since 2016. Schaffer, a Houston attorney, said Monday that their fees are likely in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. He said Paxton’s defense team argued about their pay as an attempt to undermine the prosecution.
Schaffer said the defense team’s attempt to bring up their pay was “emblematic” of Paxton’s strategy in the case. “They don’t want to go to trial,” he said. “They want to delay the trial in any way.”
“It is time that the guy goes to trial,” Schaffer added. “He went through that charade in Austin, but this is going to be different. This is not going to be a corrupt trial, this is going to be a trial about corruption.”
Paxton’s defense team did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Paxton has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
This story is developing and will be updated.
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October 30, 2023 at 11:36PM
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's criminal trial set for April 15 - The Dallas Morning News
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