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After investigators for a Texas House committee concluded Wednesday that Attorney General Ken Paxton may have broken state laws and misused the powers of his office, Paxton responded by dismissing the findings as false testimony from “highly partisan Democrat lawyers.”
An examination of the history of the investigators for the House General Investigating Committee found no basis for Paxton’s claim. Most of the lawyers had ties to both political parties, though there were overall deeper connections to Republicans.
The committee quietly launched its investigation in March after Paxton and his agency agreed to pay $3.3 million to settle a lawsuit by four of his former deputies. The plaintiffs said they were improperly fired after telling federal and state investigators they believed Paxton had accepted bribes and engaged in other misconduct.
The Republican-led committee tasked five attorneys, who have over 120 years of legal experience combined, with the inquiry: Erin Epley, Terese Buess, Mark Donnelly, Donna Cameron and Brian Benken.
“The false testimony of highly partisan Democrat lawyers with the goal of manipulating and misleading the public is reprehensible,” Paxton said in a statement Wednesday.
But a Texas Tribune review of the investigators’ employment history, voting records and campaign donations did not support Paxton’s claim. Many served...
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