February 1, 2016 11:59 AM

Ethics Commission rejects opinion to allow out-of-state donors to pay Paxton's legal bills

Opponents saw it as a ""permission slip for Ken Paxton"

The Texas Ethics Commission on Monday refused to give its blessing to a proposed advisory opinion that could clear the way for out-of-state donors to pay for Attorney General Ken Paxton’s legal defense in his current ongoing litigation.

A TEC subcommittee, chaired by Vice Chair Chase Untermeyer, attempted to craft an opinion from an anonymous requestor who had suggested various scenarios which took the question of bribery off the table and acknowledged that contributions to staff in the attorney general’s office was not against the law.

By Kimberly Reeves