How many new ways can Texas AG Ken Paxton find to disrespect the rule of law?

In normal circumstances, showing respect for the rule of law would be a minimum requirement to run for attorney general.

But Ken Paxton, the seemingly shameless Republican seeking a third term as Texas AG, must feel pretty secure about re-election. He’s sending signals that he finds this sacred principle easy to dismiss when it’s politically convenient to do so.

Paxton lost a major case before the Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s ultimate arbiter of criminal law. The all-Republican court ruled, 8-1, that the attorney general is not empowered to prosecute voter fraud. Paxton has asked far-right media audiences at least twice to harass the court and apply pressure to reverse the ruling, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

In doing so, he’s irresponsibly suggesting that the court — made up, again, of nine of his fellow Republicans — is part of a vast leftist conspiracy.

“Call them out by name,” Paxton said on an internet broadcast hosted by pillow magnate Mike Lindell. “I mean, you can look them up. ... Call them, send mail, send email.”

The AG has a reasonable legal disagreement with the court’s ruling. But he also really likes pretending he’s striking great blows against a vast network of voter fraud that does not exist.

It’s dangerous and inappropriate to sic political supporters on judges. We don’t make case law based on mob passion or political majority. It’s fine to protest a ruling, argue to overturn it and even work to defeat the responsible judges at the ballot box.

But Paxton, as he often does, sloppily went too far. And for what? His multimillion-dollar election fraud unit closed just three cases last year and opened seven more, the Houston Chronicle found. If Paxton really thinks voter fraud is rampant, he should thank the court for taking it off his hands, given that pathetic record.

It’s worth noting, too, that Paxton may find himself before the criminal court in connection with his interminable securities fraud case. Someone with a modicum of respect for our legal system might pause before turning a crowd loose on judges in that situation, if only for the sake of appearances.

But then, appearances never seem to matter to Paxton. His campaign violated election law by missing a deadline to fully report the identities of his contributors, who donated $2.8 million to his re-election effort in the last six months of 2021. The campaign blamed a technical glitch. But somehow, hundreds of other candidates, campaigns large and small, managed to avoid it.

Voters need to know who’s funding campaigns, especially given Texas’ allowance of unlimited donations. There isn’t much enforcement beyond a small fine, but most candidates recognize that timely disclosure is the right thing to do.

And while it isn’t surprising, it’s worth noting that Paxton has gone all in on 2020 election lies. In a recent appearance in the Houston area, the AG noted the expansion of mail-in balloting in many states to alleviate COVID-19 concerns and contended: “I know what was going on with these mail-in ballots. They needed to first figure out how many votes they needed for it, and then they looked at the mail-in ballots to change the election. And that’s what they did.”

Such claims have been dismissed by every legal venue asked to examine it. One should be skeptical of any conspiracy that would require so many participants at so many levels. Coordinating it and keeping it secret would be almost impossible.

But then, why would we expect better from Paxton? He launched the absurd notion that the Supreme Court should let Texas meddle in other states’ elections. And he’s missed no opportunity to sidle up to Trump.

Let’s not forget, too, that former trusted lieutenants accused Paxton of bribery and trying to help a campaign contributor. And his office tried to argue that it was exempt from the Texas Whistleblower Act.

Ken Paxton is telling us over and over again that he’s above the law, that the rule of law is optional and that a conspiracy happened against all evidence it did not.

Republican primary voters, are you listening?

This story was originally published January 28, 2022 at 12:42 PM.