The U.S. Department of Justice will not pursue federal corruption charges against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to two unnamed sources who spoke to the Associated Press.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the decision not to charge Paxton was made during the final days of the Biden administration.
The Justice Department and FBI did not immediately confirm the AP story.
The FBI had been investigating Paxton since late 2020, when several senior employees inside his agency accused him of abusing his office to help a campaign donor. The probe continued after Paxton was impeached, and then later acquitted, based on these same allegations.
The news is a welcome win for the Republican AG, who after three terms as the state’s top lawyer is reportedly mulling a run for U.S. Senate. His likely opponent, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, had voiced concerns about Paxton’s legal troubles, once posting on X last year that it would be “hard to run from prison, Ken.”
Paxton used the win to needle Cornyn, posting on X that the senior senator “ignored the rule of law, the Constitution, and innocent until proven guilty” and stood “with the corrupt Biden DOJ.”
Paxton’s attorney Dan Cogdell said that the decision to drop the case was “about as surprising as the sun setting in the West tonight.”
“There was never a viable case to prosecute against the Attorney General. The only surprising thing is that it took the DOJ so long to admit it,” he told The Texas Newsroom.
The federal investigation was the most serious legal issue facing Paxton, who has been repeatedly beset by corruption allegations throughout his more than 20 years in office.
In addition to impeachment, the first for a sitting state official in 50 years, Paxton was also investigated for bribery and self-dealing, probes which were also dropped, and indicted on state securities fraud charges. He cut a deal with prosecutors last year to pay restitution and do community service in lieu of facing trial on the fraud charges.
Nate Paul, the campaign donor behind the corruption allegations, pled guilty to federal financial crimes earlier this year in a case that did not involve Paxton.
The Texas Newsroom is a public radio journalism collaboration that includes NPR, KERA in North Texas, Houston Public Media, KUT in Austin, Texas Public Radio in San Antonio and other stations across the state.