Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, was criticized by the Dallas Morning News as "dangerous," with the newspaper citing several events in which Paxton went after his political adversaries.
An opinion piece published by the paper's editorial board on Wednesday claimed that Paxton has been on "an ever-expanding revenge tour," since he was acquitted on charges of corruption and bribery in September 2023.
Paxton was impeached on 20 articles by the GOP-controlled state House in May 2023. The charges centered on allegations that Paxton improperly used the powers of his office to protect political donor and real estate developer Nate Paul, who was indicted on federal charges of making false statements to banks and wire fraud. Paul has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
"After surviving scandals and impeachment, Paxton's abuse of his office and position to target political or ideological opponents is increasingly petty, ideological and dangerous, proving the adage about the power of power to corrupt," the Dallas Morning News wrote in Wednesday's op-ed.
Newsweek reached out to Paxton's campaign via phone for comment.
Detailed in the article was the ousting of three judges—Justices Sharon Keller, Barbara Hervey and Michelle Slaughter—on the Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas' highest criminal court, during last week's primary. The incumbents lost to David Schenck, Gina Parker and Lee Finley, all of whom Paxton endorsed.
The three justices went against Paxton when they ruled, along with five other justices, in December 2021 that a Texas attorney general did not have the authority to prosecute voter fraud by himself.
The Dallas Morning News' op-ed also mentioned Paxton's lawsuits against North Texas school districts for alleged electioneering. The AG claimed that the school districts violated the law when they used official resources to sway political opinion.
"In fairness, statements released by the school districts did skirt the line of using official resources for politicking. And some may have crossed it," the editorial board wrote. "But our concern is that Paxton took a scorched-earth approach to the situation rather than to warn the districts that could be violating the law."
The op-ed also mentioned Paxton's "iron-fist approach" when trying to close down Annunciation House, a nonprofit that provides basic necessities to migrants and asylum-seekers.
Paxton accused the non-profit of being engaged "in legal violations such as facilitating illegal entry to the United States, alien harboring, human smuggling, and operating a stash house."
He served Annunciation House an administrative subpoena in February, asking for documents within a day. The nonprofit said it would provide the documents within 30 days, but the AG's office deemed it non-compliant and tried to revoke its registration.
On Monday, a state district judge, Francisco Dominguez, rejected Paxton's attempt to shut it down, writing that "the Attorney General's efforts to run roughshod over Annunciation House, without regard to due process or fair play, call into question the true motivation for the Attorney General's attempt to prevent Annunciation House from providing the humanitarian and social services that it provides."
The Dallas Morning News wrote: "It's hard to think that Paxton is acting in good faith."
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