The Justice Department quietly decided not to indict Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the final weeks of the Biden administration, effectively ending a corruption investigation that casts a long shadow on the political career of President Donald Trump’s close allies, the Associated Press learned.
The decision not to bring about accusations that have never been reported publicly resolved a high-stakes federal investigation before Trump’s new Department of Justice leadership took action, based on an investigation sparked by Paxton’s inner circle of allegations that Texas Republicans abused his office to support political donors.
The move came almost two years after Washington’s Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section took over the investigation, removing the case from the hands of federal investigators in Texas who believed there was sufficient evidence of the charges.
The two, well-versed in the matter, confirmed the department’s decision to refuse prosecution, as two people who discussed on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The date of the decision was not immediately clear, but one of the people said it took place in President Joe Biden’s final weeks.
Politically appointed Department of Justice leadership was not involved in the decision recommended by senior career officials who were concerned about the prosecutor’s ability to secure a conviction on the decision. To avoid the emergence of political interference, political appointees are usually not involved in the issue of public integrity sections.
Dan Cogdell, one of Paxton’s lawyers, told the Associated Press on Wednesday night that he hadn’t been informed by the Justice Department about the investigation decision, but “we didn’t think there was a case they could make.”
The Department of Justice declined to comment.
Paxton will weigh the US Senator’s run next year and set up a potential primary for Republican Sen. John Cornyn. This sets ambitions that reflect his political durability despite years of spending under the clouds, including accusations of felony securities fraud and investigations by Texas Barr on efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The federal investigation was the most serious investigation Paxton still faced, who solved a securities fraud case and was acquitted of corruption in the Texas Senate following the historic perks each in 2023. Paxton agreed to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution last year under a contract to terminate a criminal securities fraud claim against accusations that he had deceived an investor at a technology startup near Dallas.
The allegations against Paxton were astounding because of who made them.
Eight of his closest aides reported him to the FBI in 2020, accusing him of bribery and abused his office to help his friends and one of the campaign’s contributors, Nate Paul. The same allegations led to Paxton’s blast on bribery and public trust abuse, but he was acquitted by a Republican-led Texas Senator.
Paul pleaded guilty to a federal charge in January after being accused of making false statements to the bank in January to obtain more than $170 million in loans.
“After the November election, DOJ appears to have accepted a guilty plea from Nate Paul and have Kenpaxton escape justice,” said Tom Nesbitt, the lawyer for TJ Turner and two whistleblowers, in a statement to the Associated Press. “The DOJ clearly influenced the decision on political coronavirus. The whistleblowers – all strong conservatives – will do the right thing and continue to confront Paxton’s allegations of criminal conduct.”
The Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section, which oversees public corruption cases, took over the Paxton investigation in 2023. The Justice Department has never publicly explained its decision to reject the federal prosecutors in West Texas, who led the investigation. The move was driven by Paxton’s lawyers.
Paxton said last year he did not challenge the whistleblower’s claims in a lawsuit that Paxton was inappropriately fired to report it to the FBI. His push to end the whistleblower case came when he faced the possibility that he had to sit and answer questions under oath to sit for depositions.
Paxton has been one of Trump’s most loyal supporters and defenders in recent years, and his name has floated as a competitor leading the Justice Department under Trump’s second term.
Paxton went to court last year on a supportive show when Trump went to court in the New York Hash Money case. And he was one of the Republican Attorney Generals who traveled to Washington last month for Trump’s campaign-style speech at the Justice Department, where the president vowed to retaliation for what he described as “the lies and abuse that occurred within these walls.”
During August last year, there was a corruption investigation activity. According to Bloomberg Act, Aaron Raitz, who was recently confirmed as Trump’s election to lead the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy, was questioned before the big ju judge about the firing of Paxton’s whistleblower.
Raitz, who served as Paxton’s aide, was asked by members of Congress considering a nomination for the Department of Justice to detail what he said to the Great Jury. Reitz declined to respond to a survey sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee in February, saying a federal investigation is ongoing.
“I don’t think Attorney General Paxton is innocent and committed a crime,” Leitz told the committee.
Last year, a 2021 big ju judge record obtained by the Texas newsroom showed federal authorities were investigating Paxton for several potential crimes, including bribery and witness retaliation. It is unclear whether the scope or focus of the investigation changed when Washington’s Public Integrity Section took over it.
At Paxton’s Munition Each trial, the former adviser testified that he put pressure on Paul, a campaign donor under investigation by the FBI to help him. The testimony included discussions about who paid for the house renovation, whether Paxton used a Burner phone, and how his alleged extramarital affair burdened the office. Paxton denounced the efforts of each of them as “politically motivated fakes.”
