As I’ve previously reported, a blockbuster investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune recently found that crooked Ken Paxton voted six times in the past two years at an address where he almost certainly didn’t live.
The irony is that Paxton, the Texas attorney general now running for the U.S. Senate, fancies himself as the Eliot Ness of voter fraud prosecution. In February, he declared his office “will stop at nothing to uncover and stop any illegal voting activity” and announced the creation of a tip line.
The subject must have been top of mind.
On Tuesday, the Collin County Democratic Party filed a complaint with the Texas secretary of state, asking the secretary to investigate whether Paxton committed election fraud when he voted in the May primary runoff. The reporting found strong evidence that Paxton lived in Denton County with his mistress each of the six times he voted in Collin County,
This latest development was also reported jointly by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. However, it is “unclear what will happen with the complaint,” their article pointed out. The state law requires the secretary of state to “promptly” refer a complaint to the attorney general if “there is reasonable cause to suspect that criminal conduct occurred.”
Yeah, that’s kind of awkward here.
“The ethical and sort of best practice would be for the attorney general’s office to hire an independent special investigator to look into the complaint,” San Antonio election lawyer Joaquin Gonzalez told reporter Zach Despart.
Mary Higbe, vice chair of the Collin County Democratic Party, is not holding her breath. According to Despart’s reporting, she doubts Paxton will do anything so honorable as allow a fair investigation into his own suspicious voting behavior. After all, Paxton is almost as much of a corrupt scumbag as Donald Trump.
“But pointing out hypocrisy from the state’s top cop is necessary,” Higbe said.
She is right about that.
