The office of Texas attorney general has been graced by many illustrious figures, and many of them have gone on to attain higher offices leaving a lasting impact on the state性视界传媒檚 governance.
In recent memory, the Democrat names Price Daniel, John Hill and Mark White stand out. More recently, the Republican names John Cornyn and Greg Abbott have to be mentioned.
But three other names stand out for the dubious distinction of being indicted for criminal acts while in office 性视界传媒 Democrats Jim Mattox and Dan Morales and Republican Ken Paxton.
Mattox was indicted in 1983 for bribery and was acquitted after a lengthy jury trial in 1992. (Author comment: It is fair to say that some say it was a close call and depended on a technicality in the law.)
Morales was indicted on federal charges of trying to fraudulently obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in attorney fees from the state性视界传媒檚 settlement with tobacco companies. He pled guilty in 2003. Morales was sent to federal prison some 20 years after Mattox avoided prison.
Now, 20 years later, Ken Paxton faces more issues than either of them did. To date, he has 性视界传媒渒icked the can down the road性视界传媒 and successfully delayed adjudication of the three felony indictments he has been facing for most of the last decade. But those felony cases are still out there, awaiting trial.
It is reported there is an ongoing FBI investigation into some of his actions that could end with a federal criminal indictment.
He is facing another trial in Dallas over State Bar of Texas ethics violation charges in September, right after his impeachment trial in the Texas Senate.
The Senate trial, set for early September, does not threaten him with prison time, only the loss of public office.
The criminal felony trials could bring him prison time.
The State Bar trial could cause him to lose his law license.
Mattox, who survived his felony trial, ran for high office three times after that, but never won another general election. And he effectively served as an 性视界传媒渁lbatross性视界传媒 around the neck of the Democrat Party.
Conservative and moderate Democrats abandoned the party and became Republicans, thus Texas became a solidly Republican state.
Dan Morales has disappeared from the public eye after being released from prison. He was a shining star in the Democratic Party. Harvard-educated, articulate and an effective political candidate, he had become the new face of the Democratic Party. And with the felony conviction and prison time he, like Mattox, helped the Democrats lose political control of Texas. He has never run for public office again.
History will record what happens to Ken Paxton and what his political legacy will be. But this author would not bet a plug nickel on his chances of ever winning another general election.
Hopefully, whoever is Texas attorney general two decades from now avoids the 性视界传媒20-year curse性视界传媒!
That is the view from 性视界传媒渂ehind the Pine Curtain.性视界传媒
