By: Sen. Royce West
“This verdict unfortunately sanctioned a new standard of conduct for elected officials in Texas. These decisions will impact the standards by which elected officials may conduct themselves for the next 100 years. There will be those who say that the House Managers did not meet their burden of proof, and that may be true on some articles. However, in my opinion, on Article IX involving bribery, the House proved beyond all doubt that Nate Paul employed Ken Paxton’s mistress, paid for a secret Uber account for Paxton’s personal use, and allowed the Attorney General of Texas to participate in an illicit affair; this, while he had almost unfettered access to the attorney general. In fact, the evidence was so strong that it showed the Uber account was connected to one of Paul’s credit cards and was used by Paxton to visit the residences of his mistress Laura Olsen and Nate Paul. This arrangement and payment benefiting Paxton may never have been reported to the proper state authority, the Texas Ethics Commission. The majority has set a poor example for future generations of elected officials by exonerating Paxton on this count.
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