Investigators have widened the scope of their impeachment probe into suspended Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton to examine a multi-million dollar real-estate binge, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
The Republican-held state House voted to impeach Paxton in late May on the grounds of alleged corruption, bribery, obstruction and other charges related to the federal investigation into a real-estate developer with ties to the attorney general. In a matter of months, Paxton’s family spent nearly $3.5 million on six different properties — an Oklahoma lodge, a Florida townhouse, two rental homes in the Sunshine State, land in Utah and property in Hawaii, according to the WSJ.
“General Paxton decided to direct much of his long-term savings from a brokerage account to real estate,” Tony Buzbee, a Paxton attorney, told the WSJ. “He did so at a time with low interest rates, believing it was a better long-term investment to provide for his family. There is nothing more to it than that.”
Paxton withdrew an additional $1.6 million in mortgages to acquire the six properties across the country, according to the WSJ. The Paxtons also have several mutual investment funds, as well as four properties in Texas.
Investigators hired by state lawmakers grew suspicious of Paxton and his family’s multi-million dollar purchases when considering the salaries of the suspended attorney general and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, as well as the short time span between investments, according to the WSJ.
Paxton was temporarily removed from his role as the state’s top attorney pending a vote in the Senate, and became Texas’ third elected official to be impeached.
A state Senate resolution adopted on June 21 barred Paxton’s wife from voting in her husband’s impeachment trial on Sept. 5 due to a “conflict of interest,” though she will still be required to attend the hearings. Two-thirds of state senators must vote to permanently remove Paxton from office.
Prior to his time as attorney general, Paxton served in both chambers of the state legislature, according to Ballotpedia. Paxton was first elected to the statewide office in 2014 and secured reelection twice by 3.6 points in 2018 and 9.7 points in 2022.
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