Ernesto Martin Herrera, a process server, was attempting to serve the state’s top attorney with a subpoena for a federal court hearing Tuesday in a lawsuit from nonprofits that want to help Texans pay for abortions out of state.
Nearly an hour later, a Black Chevrolet Tahoe pulled into the driveway, and 20 minutes after that, Ken Paxton exited the house.
“I walked up the driveway approaching Mr. Paxton and called him by his name. As soon as he saw me and heard me call his name out, he turned around and RAN back inside the house through the same door in the garage,” Herrera wrote in the sworn affidavit.
Angela Paxton then exited the house, got inside a Chevrolet truck in the driveway, started it and opened the doors.
“A few minutes later I saw Mr. Paxton RAN from the door inside the garage towards the rear door behind the driver side,” Herrera wrote. “I approached the truck, and loudly called him by his name and stated that I had court documents for him. Mr. Paxton ignored me and kept heading for the truck.”
Not many people charged with felony crimes go seven years without ever standing trial. One of them is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The twists and turns of how the Republican, who is on the cusp of winning the GOP nomination for a third term Tuesday, has yet to have his day in court after being indicted on securities fraud charges in 2015 has little comparison in American politics. And along the way, it has upended what it means to be a compromised officeholder in Texas.
Four different judges have overseen his case at some point. Where a trial would happen — if it ever does — has ping-ponged from Dallas to Houston to Dallas again. All the while, other clouds have gathered over Paxton: the FBI is investigating him over separate accusations of corruption, and the State Bar of Texas is weighing possible reprimands over his attempts to baselessly overturn the 2020 election.
Once, nearly a year passed with no movement in the case at all. “I mean, this one is crazy," said Andrew Wheat, a leader of the watchdog Texans For Public Justice. His group in 2014 filed a complaint with prosecutors over Paxton's failure to register as a securities adviser, one of the criminal charges the Republican is battling.
Wheat is dubious that a trial will ever happen. “And by the time it does, if it ever does, will it have any significance left to it?" he said.
Paxton, who faces five to 99 years in prison if convicted, has pleaded not guilty. His attorneys point out that Paxton invoked his right to a speedy trial and blame the holdup on special prosecutors, who have spent years in a protracted battle over how much they're getting paid and where the case should be tried.
Bush, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the last of his famous family still in office, has staked a comeback on TV ads that splash the indictments across the screen and call Paxton unfit for office. Paxton has mostly ignored the attacks while flaunting former President Donald Trump's endorsement. Most top Texas Republicans have been restrained in voicing any concerns, but a rare exception came just days ahead of the runoff, when U.S. Sen. John Cornyn called the unresolved case an “embarrassment."
“Obviously the voters will have access to that information,” Cornyn said last week. “They’ll make their own decision and I can’t predict what the outcome will be.” The indictments accuse Paxton of defrauding investors in a Dallas-area tech startup by not disclosing he was being paid by the company, called Servergy, to recruit them. The indictments were handed up just months after Paxton was sworn in as Texas’ top law enforcement officer.
Not long after, allies of Paxton spearheaded attacks on special prosecutors' $300 hourly rate, calling it an abuse of taxpayer money. Local leaders in Paxton's hometown of Collin County, which is controlled by Republicans, agreed and voted to slash the pay.
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