This past week the Attorney General of Texas sent out a press release that deemed agency personnel who had complained about potential conflicts of interest by the AG himself were “rogue political appointees” rather than whistleblowers because they had only … Read More
Charles Smith of the Texas Department of Health and Human Services testifies Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017, to the House Committees on Human Services and Public Health at the Capitol. Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune. Texas HHS still hasn’t learned … Read More
UPDATE: Arguments in this case were heard by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, December 6. The 39-minute video of the oral arguments is here. The court’s decision is not expected until spring of next year. As a heads up for dentists … Read More
The Statesman published a landmark article this morning by reporter Eric Dexheimer regarding the great Texas orthodontic debacle. Story finally pieced together Thanks to the state’s fraud suit against Xerox, its former Medicaid claims administrator summarily terminated back in early … Read More
More than four years after accusing Southwest Counseling Center of overbilling the state by $2.8 million in Medicaid reimbursements, the New Mexico Human Services Department has settled with the former Las Cruces behavioral health provider for a sliver of that … Read More
A purchasing official for Child Protective Services has resigned after a state investigation concluded she had a conflict interest when her husband took a job with a nonprofit that had multimillion-dollar contracts with the state. Patrick Crimmins, spokesman for the … Read More
April 24, 2017 — The ADA has agreed to pay almost $2 million to settle two discrimination charges filed against the association. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigated charges that the association fired two employees in retaliation for … Read More
Sherry Cook, the embattled executive director of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, is stepping down from her post amid a series of spending controversies at the agency. In a Tweet early Monday afternoon, Gov. Greg Abbott welcomed what his office … Read More
A purchasing director of Child Protective Services has been placed on administrative leave as officials launch an investigation into a pending contract involving a nonprofit where the director’s husband works, the American-Statesman has learned.It’s the second time Frianita Wilson has … Read More
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is not giving up on its case against Attorney General Ken Paxton. The commission filed amended civil charges against Paxton on Friday, two weeks after a federal judge dismissed the case. Paxton, who is also fighting similar criminal charges … Read More
If the irony of Ken Paxton being Texas’ attorney general were a wall, it would be a huge, magnificent wall growing taller by the day. As the state’s top legal authority, an attorney general is expected to be above ethical … Read More
AUSTIN — A top lawyer at the attorney general’s office was fired last year when she raised concerns that her bosses were breaking federal rules as they scrambled to salvage a foundering technology deal that has cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. After Martha … Read More
There may be, strictly speaking, a question on the legality, but there is no question on the ethics. Attorney General Ken Paxton was wrong to accept a gift from a party under investigation by his office.Last year, Preferred Imaging founder … Read More
Dang. That Ken Paxton sure seems snakebit. The Texas attorney general’s latest pratfall was the sort of mistake that your average statewide politician is — or ought to be — too paranoid to make. Paxton was indicted last year for allegedly steering people to … Read More
AUSTIN — Attorney General Ken Paxton took a $100,000 gift from a Texas CEO who was being investigated for Medicare and Medicaid fraud, but he had no knowledge of the probe and his agency had little to do with it, multiple agencies … Read More
Facing possible prison time over accusations that he defrauded investors in 2011, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton insists that he is the victim of a politically motivated witch hunt because he dares to run his powerful agency based on conservative … Read More
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accepted $100,000 from the head of a company his office was investigating for Medicaid fraud despite internal rules at his agency that prohibit such gifts. Paxton is using the money toward … Read More
A recent disclosure shows that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accepted more than $329,000 from donors and “family friends” toward his legal bills as he defends himself against securities fraud charges. As the Tribune’s Jim Malewitz writes, filings to the … Read More
Updated: 8:25 p.m. Thursday, June 30, 2016 | Posted: 7:34 p.m. Thursday, June 30, 2016A state appeals court Thursday rejected Attorney General Ken Paxton’s motion to reconsider its June 1 ruling that upheld criminal charges against him.The two-sentence order from the Dallas-based … Read More
AUSTIN — Texas state health officials once again are delaying a massive data project that has struggled to get off of the ground for more than a decade. The state Health and Human Services Commission informed lawmakers Tuesday it was pausing … Read More
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Comptroller Glenn Hegar stepped into the conversation around “emergency leave” on Wednesday, ordering state agencies to stop using the system as a form of severance pay. State employees in Texas are not awarded severance pay when … Read More
The Texas Ethics Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a new rule aimed at restricting when lobbyists can pay for state lawmakers and officials to go on so-called fact-finding trips that critics say sometimes amount to little more than lavish junkets … Read More
AUSTIN — A Democratic advocacy group has asked the Texas Rangers, Travis County district attorney and State Auditor’s Office to investigate whether several state agencies misused taxpayer money to pay employees long after they left their jobs. The Lone Star Project on Tuesday sent letters … Read More
Should taxpayers pay severance to state employees to take the sting out of unexpected job losses or to protect the uncovered tails of the elected officeholders who fire them? The state’s legislative budget writers have promised to dig into stories … Read More
After reports of state agencies keeping former employees on the payroll after they stopped working, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other agency heads have taken heat for stretching the rules on paid “emergency leave” to keep the ex-workers on … Read More
AUSTIN — Leaders in the Senate and House vowed Tuesday to crack down on widespread misuse of so-called emergency leave following reports by The Dallas Morning News that detailed dozens of cases in which employees continued to be paid months … Read More
AUSTIN – Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush has spent nearly $1 million in taxpayer money to entice dozens of people fired by his administration to agree not to sue him or the agency, a practice that may run afoul … Read More
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton is innocent until proved guilty and is serving Texas well as the state’s top attorney while he awaits his day in court. Abbott compared Paxton’s legal woes … Read More
AUSTIN, TEXAS Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who faces felony charges of defrauding investors unrelated to his office, has the support of Gov. Greg Abbott and other state leaders and hasn’t been asked to resign, a Paxton spokesman said Tuesday.The … Read More
AUSTIN – After just more than a month on the job, embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton’s chief of staff, Hiram Sasser is leaving the agency, according to an internal email sent Tuesday. The email from First Assistant Attorney General Jeff … Read More
AUSTIN — A third top official in Ken Paxton’s office was kept on the payroll after she left the agency — this time for nearly six months — state records show, raising more questions about the attorney general’s use of a … Read More
In a new, four-minute video released by his campaign the day before he’s set to appear in court in Dallas, embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton defends himself against “crimes I didn’t commit” and says he’s been wrongly accused by people … Read More
Attorney General Ken Paxton recently accepted the resignation of two of his senior employees.But while both workers quit the agency, their paychecks continued. Before leaving, they had signed letters of resignation that stipulated that they’d be considered on paid “administrative … Read More
AUSTIN – Ken Paxton told federal investigators that a tech CEO gave him $100,000 worth of stock five years ago, but he never disclosed the shares as either a gift or income, an issue ethics experts agreed could spell more trouble for the attorney general … Read More
AUSTIN — A Texas state official put on paid leave amid last year’s contracting scandal has been reinstated after 15 months in which she received nearly $150,000 in salary without having to work. The official, Frianita Wilson, a longtime procurement … Read More
A former aide to Texas Attorney GeneralKen Paxton said Friday that he asked for her resignation and that she did not ask for nor negotiate a now-controversial departure package that left the state paying her thousands of dollars in salary and benefits. … Read More
AUSTIN — Attorney General Ken Paxton’s scheduler is leaving the agency, the latest staffer to depart in a string of high-profile resignations. Katherine Lawhon’s last day in the office was nearly six weeks ago, according to her personnel file, released to The … Read More
The office of Attorney General Ken Paxton is formally defending his decision to continue paying two high-level staffers after they resigned, saying Paxton “acted in a compassionate, legal, and ethical manner.” In an op-ed submitted Tuesday to a number of media … Read More
AUSTIN — Attorney General Ken Paxton is still paying a former top staffer more than a month after she left the agency, and aides refuse to answer questions about a special payment arrangement for her and Paxton’s former deputy amid … Read More
The investigative digging of the Texas media into the operations of state government has once again revealed to the public, otherwise blissfully ignorant, the tremendous apparent hypocrisy of several state officials who view their positions as the divine right of … Read More
