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Posted
8 hours ago, Cap33 said:

Um...

From Quorum Report:

 

During Texas trip President Trump reportedly discussed appointing Paxton as US Attorney General to shakeup GOP Senate primary

Under increased MAGA pressure to dismiss AG Bondi over Epstein files, a potential plan could come together to make Paxton AG, changing dynamics in Texas Senate race

 

From the item in Mediaite by Sarah Rumpf:

It’s well known that “John Cornyn refuses to let a scumbag like Ken Paxton sit in Sam Houston’s Senate seat,” the source said, but Paxton wasn’t content to just remain as the Texas AG.

So how to get Paxton out of the way?

The solution, according to the source, was for Trump to get rid of Bondi, Paxton to drop out of the Senate race, Trump to nominate Paxton for AG, Cornyn to announce he was retiring, and Hunt to announce he was running for Senate — in a now-open seat, not challenging an incumbent.

Source article here: https://www.mediaite.com/politics/scoop-loomers-bondi-bombshell-tweet-came-after-trumps-air-force-one-chat-about-texas-shakeup/

Well, he certainly has the maga bona fides.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

From the Texas Tribune:

https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/24/ken-paxton-private-lawyers-texas-cases/

 

One day in late May 2024, lawyer Zina Bash spent 6 1/2 hours working on a case against Facebook parent company Meta on behalf of the state of Texas. She reviewed draft legal filings. She participated in a court-ordered mediation session and then discussed the outcome with state Attorney General Ken Paxton.

In her previous job as senior counsel on Paxton’s leadership team, that labor would have cost Texas taxpayers $641.

But Bash had moved to private practice. Paxton hired her firm to work on the Meta case, allowing her to bill $3,780 an hour, so that day of work will cost taxpayers $24,570.

In the past five years, Paxton has grown increasingly reliant on pricey private lawyers to argue cases on behalf of the state, rather than the hundreds of attorneys who work within his office, an investigation by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica found. These are often attorneys, like Bash, with whom Paxton has personal or political ties.

In addition to Bash, one such contract went to Tony Buzbee, the trial lawyer who successfully defended Paxton during his 2023 impeachment trial on corruption charges. Three other contracts went to firms whose senior attorneys have donated to Paxton’s political campaigns. Despite these connections and what experts say are potential conflicts of interest, Paxton does not appear to have recused himself from the selection process. Although he is not required to by law, this raises a concern about appearing improper, experts who study attorneys general said.

Paxton appears to have also outsourced cases more frequently than his predecessors, available records show. And he’s inked the kind of contingent-fee contracts, in which firms receive a share of a settlement if they win, far more often than the attorneys general in other large states, including California, New York and Pennsylvania. Since 2015, the New York and California attorneys general have awarded zero contingent-fee contracts; Pennsylvania’s has signed one. During that period, Paxton’s office approved 13.

One of those was with Bash’s firm, Chicago-based Keller Postman, at the time known as Keller Lenkner, which she joined as partner in February 2021 after resigning from her job at the attorney general’s office. Paxton had signed a contract with the company two months earlier to investigate Google for deceptive business practices and violations of antitrust law. A little more than a year later, Bash’s firm won a state contract to work on the Meta litigation, alleging its facial recognition software violated Texans’ privacy. This time, Bash was the co-lead counsel.

Meta, which called the lawsuit meritless, settled the case for $1.4 billion in the summer of 2024. It was a windfall for Keller Postman. The firm billed $97 million, the largest fee charged by outside counsel under Paxton’s tenure. Bash’s work alone accounted for $3.6 million of that total.

Posted
6 minutes ago, Gale Snoats said:

From the Texas Tribune:

https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/24/ken-paxton-private-lawyers-texas-cases/

 

 

One day in late May 2024, lawyer Zina Bash spent 6 1/2 hours working on a case against Facebook parent company Meta on behalf of the state of Texas. She reviewed draft legal filings. She participated in a court-ordered mediation session and then discussed the outcome with state Attorney General Ken Paxton.

In her previous job as senior counsel on Paxton’s leadership team, that labor would have cost Texas taxpayers $641.

But Bash had moved to private practice. Paxton hired her firm to work on the Meta case, allowing her to bill $3,780 an hour, so that day of work will cost taxpayers $24,570.

In the past five years, Paxton has grown increasingly reliant on pricey private lawyers to argue cases on behalf of the state, rather than the hundreds of attorneys who work within his office, an investigation by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica found. These are often attorneys, like Bash, with whom Paxton has personal or political ties.

In addition to Bash, one such contract went to Tony Buzbee, the trial lawyer who successfully defended Paxton during his 2023 impeachment trial on corruption charges. Three other contracts went to firms whose senior attorneys have donated to Paxton’s political campaigns. Despite these connections and what experts say are potential conflicts of interest, Paxton does not appear to have recused himself from the selection process. Although he is not required to by law, this raises a concern about appearing improper, experts who study attorneys general said.

 

Paxton appears to have also outsourced cases more frequently than his predecessors, available records show. And he’s inked the kind of contingent-fee contracts, in which firms receive a share of a settlement if they win, far more often than the attorneys general in other large states, including California, New York and Pennsylvania. Since 2015, the New York and California attorneys general have awarded zero contingent-fee contracts; Pennsylvania’s has signed one. During that period, Paxton’s office approved 13.

One of those was with Bash’s firm, Chicago-based Keller Postman, at the time known as Keller Lenkner, which she joined as partner in February 2021 after resigning from her job at the attorney general’s office. Paxton had signed a contract with the company two months earlier to investigate Google for deceptive business practices and violations of antitrust law. A little more than a year later, Bash’s firm won a state contract to work on the Meta litigation, alleging its facial recognition software violated Texans’ privacy. This time, Bash was the co-lead counsel.

Meta, which called the lawsuit meritless, settled the case for $1.4 billion in the summer of 2024. It was a windfall for Keller Postman. The firm billed $97 million, the largest fee charged by outside counsel under Paxton’s tenure. Bash’s work alone accounted for $3.6 million of that total.

Y'all remember Dan Morales?  And what caused it all to come tumbling down, with him ending up in prison?

Quote

As Dan Morales' wife sobbed only a few feet away, federal marshals handcuffed the former Texas attorney general minutes after U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks of Austin sentenced Morales to four years in federal prison on Oct. 31.

In July, Morales, 47, entered a guilty plea before Sparks to a mail-fraud charge stemming from his efforts to obtain $520 million in tobacco-settlement fees for his friend, Houston attorney Marc Murr. The two sought attorneys' fees for Murr as part of the $17 billion settlement that the state obtained from tobacco companies in 1998.

Also in July, Morales pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return in 1998, claiming only $39,000 in income and failing to report that he had converted about $420,000 of political contributions to his personal use.

But....that was a simpler time.  And, Morales was a democrat.  There are no such laws, rules, or standards that apply to Republicans.  A Republican can do every single thing Morales did, and....be rewarded by being elected to the US Senate.  Mark it down.  What got a democrat convicted will get a republican promoted.

But, you know, republicans and their supporters are against corruption and the deep state and all that.

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Posted (edited)

More Paxton: he and Angela claimed three homes as their primary residences, saving themselves tens of thousands of dollars. There is just no end. 

https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-ag-claimed-three-homes-as-primary-residence-democrats-are-being-probed-for-similar-issue/

 

President Donald Trump has accused two of his political foes — Sen. Adam Schiff of California and New York Attorney General Letitia James — of committing mortgage fraud, though legal experts say the circumstances are less serious.

The Democrats have long been objects of Trump’s ire for having led various investigations into his conduct as president and as a business executive.

Paxton, himself, has weighed in on the investigation of James, saying he hoped authorities would look into her conduct. “I hope that if she’s done something wrong, I hope that she’s actually held accountable,” he told supporters last month.


 

Edited by Hornius Emeritus
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Posted
1 hour ago, Gale Snoats said:

From the Texas Tribune:

https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/24/ken-paxton-private-lawyers-texas-cases/

 

 

One day in late May 2024, lawyer Zina Bash spent 6 1/2 hours working on a case against Facebook parent company Meta on behalf of the state of Texas. She reviewed draft legal filings. She participated in a court-ordered mediation session and then discussed the outcome with state Attorney General Ken Paxton.

In her previous job as senior counsel on Paxton’s leadership team, that labor would have cost Texas taxpayers $641.

But Bash had moved to private practice. Paxton hired her firm to work on the Meta case, allowing her to bill $3,780 an hour, so that day of work will cost taxpayers $24,570.

In the past five years, Paxton has grown increasingly reliant on pricey private lawyers to argue cases on behalf of the state, rather than the hundreds of attorneys who work within his office, an investigation by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica found. These are often attorneys, like Bash, with whom Paxton has personal or political ties.

In addition to Bash, one such contract went to Tony Buzbee, the trial lawyer who successfully defended Paxton during his 2023 impeachment trial on corruption charges. Three other contracts went to firms whose senior attorneys have donated to Paxton’s political campaigns. Despite these connections and what experts say are potential conflicts of interest, Paxton does not appear to have recused himself from the selection process. Although he is not required to by law, this raises a concern about appearing improper, experts who study attorneys general said.

 

Paxton appears to have also outsourced cases more frequently than his predecessors, available records show. And he’s inked the kind of contingent-fee contracts, in which firms receive a share of a settlement if they win, far more often than the attorneys general in other large states, including California, New York and Pennsylvania. Since 2015, the New York and California attorneys general have awarded zero contingent-fee contracts; Pennsylvania’s has signed one. During that period, Paxton’s office approved 13.

One of those was with Bash’s firm, Chicago-based Keller Postman, at the time known as Keller Lenkner, which she joined as partner in February 2021 after resigning from her job at the attorney general’s office. Paxton had signed a contract with the company two months earlier to investigate Google for deceptive business practices and violations of antitrust law. A little more than a year later, Bash’s firm won a state contract to work on the Meta litigation, alleging its facial recognition software violated Texans’ privacy. This time, Bash was the co-lead counsel.

Meta, which called the lawsuit meritless, settled the case for $1.4 billion in the summer of 2024. It was a windfall for Keller Postman. The firm billed $97 million, the largest fee charged by outside counsel under Paxton’s tenure. Bash’s work alone accounted for $3.6 million of that total.

Zina Bash - you mean this bitch from the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings?

DmdkGapWwAAobSA.jpg-small.jpg

I suppose that checks out.

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Posted
3 minutes ago, Al Czervik said:

Laws for thee not for me. 

It's literally their entire philosophy:

"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."

Not only do they not hide it or try to run away from it, they gleefully revel in it.  And the fucking dumbest thing is that their supporters do, too....even though 99% of them end up being just as fucked by that order of business as the people they THINK they're shitting on.  They pull the rip cord on the suicide vest, then stand there bleeding out pointing and laughing at the other people the shrapnel shredded...and they think they've won something.

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Posted
1 hour ago, Gap03 said:

Zina Bash - you mean this bitch from the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings?

DmdkGapWwAAobSA.jpg-small.jpg

I suppose that checks out.

What is it with all the wall eyed right wing attorneys?

Posted
But....that was a simpler time.  And, Morales was a democrat.  There are no such laws, rules, or standards that apply to Republicans.  A Republican can do every single thing Morales did, and....be rewarded by being elected to the US Senate.  Mark it down.  What got a democrat convicted will get a republican promoted.
But, you know, republicans and their supporters are against corruption and the deep state and all that.

Ah the good old days.

My now-wife worked at Reaud, Morgan & Quinn at the time. And my FIL was Wayne’s “fixer.” Jack Brooks’ pet name for my wife was “Wayne’s goddamned token republican office girl” who refused to vote for him. That was before her run in with Greg Abbot over Warren Jeffs turned her blue.

What a fucking world, man. But hey, I had sex.
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