Tag Archives: Attorney General

Why did Ken Paxton hire a newbie attorney to be a “special prosecutor” or whatever he meant to call him?

Posted on October 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib has some questions. It was a baffling, perilous, perhaps unprecedented task. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton hired an outside lawyer last month to look into a complaint of misconduct by a host of state and federal officials, including … Continue reading →

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Judge briefly halts Abbott’s order limiting mail ballot dropoff locations

Posted on October 11, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Late Friday breaking news, which lasted until the early afternoon on Saturday. A federal judge ruled Friday that Texas counties can have multiple drop-off locations for absentee ballots heading into the Nov. 3 general election, blocking the enforcement of Texas … Continue reading →

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More on Nate Paul

Posted on October 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This Trib story delves into the life and times of Nate Paul, the young Austin real estate entrepreneur whose relationship with Ken Paxton is the underpinning of the current scandal surrounding Paxton. The story goes into some detail about Paul’s … Continue reading →

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First hearing for mail ballot dropoff locations

Posted on October 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Hopefully we’ll get some action quickly. Lawyers for voters and voting rights groups asked a federal judge Thursday to block Gov. Greg Abbott’s recent order limiting counties to one location where voters can hand-deliver mail-in ballots. Abbott waited too long … Continue reading →

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Paxton’s first line of defense

Posted on October 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Settle in, folks, this is going to be a long one. We’ll start with the Dallas Morning News. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is defending his decision to bring on an outside lawyer to look into a complaint from real … Continue reading →

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Win one, lose one at SCOTX

Posted on October 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The win: Early voting in Texas can begin Oct. 13, following the timeline the governor laid out months ago, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, rejecting a request from several top Texas Republicans to limit the timeframe for voters to … Continue reading →

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More on the motion to dismiss the felony bail lawsuit

Posted on October 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Should get a ruling soon. The bulk of Harris County’s felony judges sought Monday to get the federal case against them dismissed, saying they should not be party to the challenge on how bail is determined for thousands of poor … Continue reading →

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Here, have a Paxton scandal roundup

Posted on October 7, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

At first I couldn’t decide if I wanted to put the juiciest bit up front or at the end. I decided to put it at the end, to hold your interest throughout. From the Trib, life and business tries to … Continue reading →

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Chip Roy calls on Paxton to resign

Posted on October 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a former top aide to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, called on his former boss to resign from his post after top members of Paxton’s staff said the attorney general should be investigated for multiple … Continue reading →

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More details emerge about the latest Paxton allegations

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron advances the ball. The top state officials who staged a mutiny against Attorney General Ken Paxton warned that he was using his office to benefit campaign donor Nate Paul, an embattled Austin real estate investor. Paul, a once … Continue reading →

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Federal bribery complaint alleged against Paxton

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Holy moly. Top aides of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have asked federal law enforcement authorities to investigate allegations of improper influence, abuse of office, bribery and other potential crimes against the state’s top lawyer. In a one-page letter to … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed over Abbott’s order to limit mail ballot dropoff locations

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

As expected. Voting rights advocates and civic groups have rushed to the courthouse in a bid to block Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s Oct. 1 order allowing Texas counties no more than one drop-off location for voters casting absentee ballots, calling … Continue reading →

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SCOTX hears mail ballot case arguments

Posted on October 1, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Here we are. Harris County Clerk Christopher Hollins’ plan to send mail ballot applications to all 2.4 million registered voters in the county far exceeds what the state Election Code allows, the attorney general’s office argued before the Texas Supreme … Continue reading →

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PPP/TDP: Trump 48, Biden 48

Posted on September 29, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

More polls. A new poll of likely voters found that President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden are tied in Texas. The poll, commissioned by the Texas Democratic Party through Public Policy Polling, is the latest reflecting a dead … Continue reading →

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The 2022 election has officially started

Posted on September 25, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

And Joe Jaworski is the first candidate out of the box. Joe Jaworski, a mediator and former Galveston mayor, is not a fan of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican first elected to statewide office in 2014. “I have … Continue reading →

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Appeals court sides with Hollins in mail ballot applications case

Posted on September 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s up to SCOTX now. A Texas appeals court on Friday upheld a district court ruling that denied Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request to block Harris County officials from sending mail ballot applications to the county’s 2.4 million registered voters. … Continue reading →

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Harris County preps to print mail ballots

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

How many they have to print remains an open question at this time. For the first time, Harris County will pay a third-party vendor to print mail ballots, a move intended to help the county clerk handle what is expected … Continue reading →

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SCOTX extends stay in Harris County vote by mail case

Posted on September 16, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I was set to be super outraged about this, but as you will see it’s not quite as bad as it first looked. The Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked Harris County from sending mail ballot applications to all registered … Continue reading →

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Now we wait on SCOTX

Posted on September 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Shouldn’t have to wait too long to get a resolution to the “Harris County Clerk wanting to send out mail ballot applications to all registered voters” question. A day after a court ruled against him, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton … Continue reading →

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One lawsuit about voting locations thrown out

Posted on September 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This was filed just a couple of months ago. Continuing to fend off attempts to alter its voting processes, Texas has convinced a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit that sought sweeping changes to the state’s rules for in-person voting … Continue reading →

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County Clerk can send his vote by mail applications

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A judge on Friday rejected Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request to halt Harris County’s plan to send mail ballot applications to all 2.4 million registered voters. State District Judge R.K. Sandill denied Paxton’s request for a temporary injunction, stating … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit rejects age discrimination claims in vote by mail lawsuit

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This is pretty much the end of the line, at least as far as the courts are concerned. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Texas can keep its strict eligibility rules for … Continue reading →

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Where are we with the lawsuit to stop Harris County from sending out vote by mail applications?

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Thanks for asking, we had the hearing in district court yesterday. Voting in person will be safe across Texas in this fall’s general election despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the state’s elections director asserted in a Harris County courtroom Wednesday … Continue reading →

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A win for those with lousy signatures

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news on the voting litigation front. As Texas prepares for an expected deluge of mail-in votes in November, a federal judge has found that one facet of the state’s signature verification rules for those ballots is unconstitutional and … Continue reading →

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Good riddance to a bad person

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We should all be thoroughly disgusted by this. A Texas assistant attorney general sent dozens of tweets over the past several months threatening violence against progressives, spouting racist and transphobic rhetoric, casting doubt over the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic … Continue reading →

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When HEB is on your side

Posted on September 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Who could be against you? Charles Butt, the billionaire owner of the San Antonio-based grocery chain H-E-B, sent a letter to the Texas Supreme Court this week, siding with Harris County on its plan to send mail ballot applications to … Continue reading →

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Supreme Court issues possibly pointless stay in mail ballots case

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This story doesn’t quite say what it seems to say, as we will see. The Texas Supreme Court has temporarily blocked Harris County from sending mail-in ballot applications to all its voters for the November election. The decision Wednesday came … Continue reading →

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County Clerk scales back mail ballot application sendout for now

Posted on September 2, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like a wise tactical move. The Harris County clerk is holding off his plan to send ballot applications to every registered voter in Harris County. County Clerk Chris Hollins said for now he is going to send ballot applications … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit hears arguments on vote by mail case

Posted on September 1, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

One more try before it’s too late to make a difference for this year. The Texas Democratic Party’s lawyer argued today before a federal appeals court that the state is unlawfully discriminating against the majority of the voting-age population by … Continue reading →

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And now the state has sued to stop the Clerk’s mail ballot application program

Posted on September 1, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Such a busy day in court. Acting at the request of the secretary of state, the Texas attorney general on Monday sued Harris County after it refused to drop plans to send applications for mail-in ballots for the November general … Continue reading →

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No new judge for Paxton

Posted on August 22, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, Kenny. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is still fighting five-year-old felony securities fraud charges, has failed in his bid to kick a Democratic Harris County judge off his ongoing criminal case. An administrative judge in Houston, Susan Brown, … Continue reading →

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Paxton (again) wants another judge on his case

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Round and round they go. Defense attorneys for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — whose indictment for felony securities fraud is now more than five years old — are again asking for a different judge to oversee the case. It’s … Continue reading →

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No eviction moratoriums

Posted on August 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

So opines Ken Paxton, and we all know what an unimpeachable source he is. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton advised Friday that local Texas governments’ attempts to delay evictions for renters grappling with the COVID-19 recession amounted to rewriting state … Continue reading →

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Let the sun shine in

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Make ’em disclose. Empower Texans, the deep-pocketed conservative advocacy group, is well-known for its heavy hand in steering the Texas GOP further to the right and for its shadowy setup that hides its funding sources from the public. But a … Continue reading →

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