Bombshell Revelation: Biden’s DOJ Secretly Shelved Case Against Texas AG Paxton

In the final weeks of Biden’s administration, the Justice Department decided quietly not to prosecute Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton. This effectively ended the corruption probe that had cast a shadow over the career of an ally of Donald Trump.

The federal investigation was closed by the decision not to bring charges, which was never reported publicly. This occurred before Trump’s newly appointed Justice Department leadership had a chance to act on the investigation that began after allegations made by Paxton’s inner circles that the Texas Republican abused the office of his position to help a political donor.

It was almost two years since the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section in Washington took control of the investigation. This removed the case from federal investigators who believed that there was enough evidence to indict.

The decision of the Department not to prosecute was confirmed by two people who spoke under the condition that they remain anonymous to discuss the internal deliberations. One of the people who spoke to us said that, although the exact date was not known, the decision was made during the last weeks of President Joe Biden’s presidency.

According to a person who was briefed about the issue, a senior career Justice Department official, who was concerned about the ability of prosecutors to secure convictions, recommended the decision. To avoid any appearance of political influence, political appointees do not normally get involved in matters on the public integrity section.

Dan Cogdell told the AP Wednesday night that he was not informed of the Justice Department’s decision regarding the investigation, but added: “I never believed they had a good case to make.”

The Department of Justice has declined to comment.

Paxton has been considering a run for U.S. Senate in 2020. This would set up a primary race against Republican Senator John Cornyn. These ambitions reflect his political longevity despite years spent under cloudy skies, including felony securities fraud accusations and an investigation by the Texas State Bar regarding his attempts to overturn Trump’s loss of the 2020 presidential election to Biden.

Paxton was still under federal investigation, which was the most serious. He settled a securities fraud case in 2023 and was cleared of corruption charges by the Texas Senate following a historic impeachment. Paxton agreed to pay almost $300,000 as restitution last year under a deal that ended criminal securities fraud allegations over accusations he had duped investors at a tech start-up near Dallas.

It is not surprising that the allegations made against Paxton are shocking, but it is also worth mentioning who made them.

In 2020, eight of his closest aides reported Paxton to the FBI, accusing him of bribery and of abusing his position to help Nate Paul, one of Paxton’s friends and contributors to his campaign. Paul also employed a female employee with whom Paxton admitted having an extramarital relationship. Paxton was impeached based on articles of bribery, abuse of public trust, and a woman with whom Paxton admitted having an extramarital affair. However, he was cleared by the Republican-led Texas Senate. His wife is also a senator, but she did not vote in the trial.

Paul pleaded guilty to a federal charge in January after he had been accused of lying to banks in order to get more than $170 million in loans.

TJ Turner, Tom Nesbitt, and attorneys for two whistleblowers said, “After the election in November, the DOJ accepted a plea of guilty from Nate Paul and appears to be letting Ken Paxton evade justice,” they stated in a press release. “The DOJ has allowed political cowardice to influence its decision.” “The whistleblowers, all conservatives, did the right thing by continuing to support their allegations about Paxton’s criminal behavior.”

In 2023, the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, which is responsible for public corruption cases and oversees them, took control of the Paxton investigation. The Justice Department never explained publicly why it decided to recuse federal prosecutors who were leading the investigation in west Texas. Paxton’s lawyers pushed for the move.

Paxton announced last year that he wouldn’t contest the claims of whistleblowers in a lawsuit that claimed they were wrongfully fired for reporting Paxton. Paxton’s push to end the whistleblowers’ lawsuit came at a time when he was facing the possibility of being deposed and answering questions under oath.

Paxton, who has been one of Trump’s most loyal supporters in recent years, was floated as an option to head the Justice Department during Trump’s second tenure.

Paxton showed his support for Trump last year when he was on trial in New York in the hush money case that ended with a conviction. Paxton was one of several Republican Attorneys General who travelled to Washington, D.C., last month in support of Trump during his trial for hush-money charges in New York. The case ended with a conviction.

Even as late as August last year, there had been some investigative activity. Aaron Reitz, recently confirmed by Trump as his choice to lead the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy, was questioned in August before a grand jury about Paxton’s firing of whistleblowers for 2020. Bloomberg Law reported.

Members of Congress who were weighing Reitz’s nomination for the Justice Department asked him to explain what he said to the grand jury. Reitz refused to respond to a questionnaire sent by the Senate Judiciary Committee to the Senate in February. He said that the federal investigation is ongoing.

Reitz said to the committee, “I do not believe that Attorney-General Paxton has committed any crimes.”

The Texas Newsroom obtained grand jury records for 2021, which showed that federal authorities investigated Paxton in connection with several crimes. These included witness retaliation and bribery. It is unclear if the scope of the investigation or the focus changed after the Washington public integrity section took over.

Former advisers said that during Paxton’s trial for impeachment, he pressed them to assist Paul, a campaign donor who was being investigated by the FBI. There were arguments about who paid for the home renovations and whether Paxton had used burner phones. Paxton called the impeachment attempt a “politically-motivated sham.”