Chris Toth: Ken Paxton’s loss of shame

(Chris Toth is a former executive director of the National Association of Attorneys General. He is the former prosecuting attorney in St. Joseph County in Indiana, former vice president of the International Association of Prosecutors, and a retired U.S. Army officer.) In 2007, Congressman Bill Jefferson, a Democrat who had represented Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District since 1991, was federally charged with numerous corruption-related offenses. The case is remembered in large part for the cash payoffs found in Jefferson’s freezer. Jefferson resisted calls to resign and ran again in the 2008 election. Despite his constituents previously electing him to nine consecutive terms, voters took a stand and chose Joseph Cao, the first Republican to be elected to Congress by the New Orleans-area district since 1888. After serving one term, Cao was soundly defeated by another Democrat. The system worked and the voters of the district bravely prioritized weeding out corruption and malfeasance, not political affiliation. Texas voters, of which I am one, face a similar choice in the next election for attorney general. The current occupant, Ken Paxton, faces charges and investigations that involve corruption and malfeasance. Like Jefferson, Paxton has refused to resign. What makes Paxton’s choice not to do so more astounding is that he is the state’s top law enforcement officer, sworn to uphold laws he himself is accused of breaking.

I spent 18 years working for the National Association of Attorneys General, retiring this past June as its executive director. During my tenure I worked with more than 230 state attorneys general. I found that, regardless of party, if attorneys general conducted themselves with honor and integrity, they usually did fine. However, at least 11 attorneys general resigned under fire during this time. About half of these involved sexual-related issues ranging from harassment and violence to extramarital or improper affairs similar to the one Paxton allegedly had with a state Senate staffer. The other half included matters ranging from interfering in the traffic stop of a boyfriend to perjury and bribery. Criminal charges were filed in four of the cases. Two of these resulted in conviction, one in acquittal and one is pending. While one attorney general — Kathleen Kane of Pennsylvania — did not resign until after a conviction, the other 10 all realized their status as the state’s chief legal officer was untenable, and resigned before their troubles completely undermined the attorney general office. These attorneys general had at least a modicum of shame. Not Ken Paxton. During my time in the attorney general world, no single state attorney general has been engaged in even a fraction of unsavory actions as those involving Paxton.