![\"Ken](\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Paxton.Ken_1.jpg?resize=480%2C268\")
<\/p>\nAnti-Gay Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Charged With 3 Felonies<\/b><\/p>\n
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Rabidly anti-gay<\/a> Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will be indicted Monday on three felony charges, according to media reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n Paxton admitted to violating the State Securities Act last year after he solicited investment clients for a friend and business partner without properly registering with the state. He initially received a $1,000 slap on the wrist, but a subsequent investigation by the Texas Rangers concluded that the violations were far more serious.<\/p>\n A grand jury reportedly indicted Paxton last week, but the charges were immediately sealed. They will be released on Monday, and a judge has already been assigned to the case.<\/p>\n WFAA-TV<\/a> reports:<\/span><\/p>\n After the indictments are unsealed, Paxton can surrender to be photographed, fingerprinted and booked at any of the state’s 254 county jails. …<\/p>\n Paxton does not have to resign or step down from statewide office as he prepares to face a criminal trial. He can continue to work, just as Gov. Rick Perry did after his two felony indictments in August 2014.<\/p>\n Paxton’s case, legal experts predict, will go to trial since his law license and statewide office are now on the line.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Paxton, a tea partier, vigorously defended the state’s same-sex<\/a> marriage ban, even filing a lawsuit<\/a> seeking to prevent gay<\/a> workers from taking unpaid leave to care for their sick spouses. In February, after a lesbian<\/a> couple<\/a> wed in Austin, Paxton sought to void their marriage<\/a>, even though one of them has ovarian cancer. Paxton also appeared at an anti-gay hate rally<\/a> alongside Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, and blamed the demise of anti-LGBT legislation<\/a> on a small group of hateful gay<\/a> activists and their corporate cronies.<\/p>\n Paxton later issued a non-binding opinion<\/a> suggesting that county clerks could refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex<\/a> couples<\/a>, and calling the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges<\/em> “lawless.”<\/p>\n A special prosecutor assigned to the case has said he would seek a first-degree felony charge against Paxton, punishable by up to life in prison, since the securities violations resulted in losses of more than $100,000. However, Paxton spokesman Anthony Holm has denied the AG did anything wrong. From WFAA<\/a>:<\/p>\n Holm also has accused the special prosecutors of being biased and unfair, and engaging in a political witch hunt.<\/span><\/p>\n “The securities board was very clear this was no crime,” he told News 8 on Tuesday. “It was resolved last spring. It was a civil event. It was a $1,000 fine and we are only here because of liberal activists.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The post Anti-Gay Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Charged With 3 Felonies<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
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