More demands for Paxton divorce records

Bring it.

Still a crook any way you look

A group of state and national media organizations, including The Texas Newsroom, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, are arguing in court that records in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s divorce case should be made available to the public.

The organizations filed their plea to intervene with the Collin County district court handling the Paxtons’ case on Tuesday. The filing requests that the court reverse a July decision to seal the case records, arguing that both the attorney general and his wife, state Senator Angela Paxton, are elected officials subject to public scrutiny. The documents should be available for “review and inspection” with limited exceptions, the media organizations said.

“The grounds alleged for divorce and the disposition of property are of substantial public interest because they bear on integrity in public office, potential use of public resources, and transparency in judicial proceedings,” the media organizations argued.

The organizations noted that family law cases across the country, including divorce proceedings, are presumed public and that the couple’s political positions in Texas and Paxton’s decision in April to run for U.S. Senate add to the public interest.

Paxton served more than a decade in the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Senate before his election as state attorney general in 2014. Angela Paxton was first elected to the state Senate in 2018.

“Where, as here, the parties are not private citizens but elected constitutional officers, the need for transparency is heightened, not diminished,” the filing read. “Allegations that might suggest abuse of marital assets, concealment of financial information, or personal conduct inconsistent with public responsibility are not merely private — they are of public consequence.”

The eight organizations that signed on to the filing are Dow Jones & Co. (publisher of The Wall Street Journal), The Washington Post, Hearst Newspapers (which owns the Austin American-Statesman, Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News), ProPublica, The Texas Lawbook, the Texas Observer, The Texas Tribune and The Texas Newsroom.

Angela Paxton filed for divorce in July, accusing her husband of adultery. Soon after, she requested all records in the case be placed under seal, arguing that doing so would “not have an adverse affect on the public health or safety.”

Judge Ray Wheless granted her request in mid-July. He then recused himself. It’s not clear why, but Wheless and his wife, also a district court judge in Collin County, have donated to the Paxtons’ campaigns in the past.

The current judge presiding over the case is Lindsey Wynne.

See here, here, and here for the background; see also the comments on that last post, which mentions and discusses this motion. The next section of the article goes through the various scandals and misdeeds and alleged crimes Ken Paxton has been involved in during his tenure, saying that they “raise questions about AG Paxton’s conduct in public office and his fidelity to the law”, which honestly made my heart sing a little when I read that. More like this, please.

One more thing:

The couple’s assets, which were scrutinized during the impeachment process, will be a subject of the divorce case.

The Paxtons have purchased multiple homes and parcels of land in several states but failed for years to disclose them on state ethics filings.

This summer, after The Texas Newsroom revealed the lack of disclosure, the couple listed more information about the property acquisitions on their annual financial statements. In a note on the documents, Paxton said he believes the disclosure rules are murky and contradictory and that he was only disclosing properties “that continue to have bank notes serviced by the filer and/or the filer’s spouse.”

Angela Paxton has asked for a “disproportionate share” of the couple’s assets in her initial divorce filing, which The Texas Newsroom obtained prior to the records being sealed. She wanted sole use of their McKinney home while the case is pending as well exclusive access to her business account.

She also wants Ken Paxton to admit fault in the breakup of the marriage.

Just a reminder that if claiming multiple homes as one’s primary residence is a crime – it isn’t, despite that Trump lackey’s insistence that it is, though there sure seem to be a lot of Trump toadies who do it – then Ken Paxton is a serial criminal. We the people deserve to know all about it.

Related Posts:

• Let’s unseal those divorce records
• Paxton divorce filings sealed
• Paxtons getting divorced