Texas AG reaches deal to dismiss securities fraud charges

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday agreed to dismiss the criminal charges of securities fraud. His lawyer, Dan Cogdell, told reporters that the agreement did not involve an admission of guilt and “there will never be an admission of guilt because he’s not guilty.”

What was this about? The State of Texas first indicted Paxton in 2015. The state had alleged that he defrauded investors while urging them to invest in a Texas-based technology company, Servergy. Last year, the Texas House impeached Paxton on 20 charges, including bribery, abuse of office, and misleading officials, but he was acquitted of 16 of the charges in September following a trial in the state Senate. The Senate had held four impeachment charges in abeyance, or a state of suspension, because they largely dealt with the then-unresolved securities fraud charges from 2015.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report in The Sift about an impeachment trial in which the Texas Senate acquitted Ken Paxton on 16 articles of impeachment.