In censuring U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, the Texas GOP chastised the San Antonio lawmaker for a “lack of fidelity to Republican principles and priorities.”
Chief among the concerns was Gonzales’ support for same-sex marriage and modest, bipartisan gun safety legislation in the aftermath of the Uvalde massacre of 19 children and two teachers. Additionally, Gonzales has tangled with U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a fellow Republican who also represents part of San Antonio, over Roy’s anti-asylum bill.
We disagreed with the censure. If Gonzales’ greatest transgression is independence, conscience and representing the best interests of his district, well, then, that’s no transgression at all. But since the Texas GOP has expressed such pressing concern about “a lack of fidelity to Republican principles and priorities,” clearly, the party must turn to indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Let’s not ignore the largest of elephants in the smallest of tents.
There is no way Paxton has maintained fidelity… to the principles of the Texas GOP. Right?
This is an attorney general — the state’s top lawyer — who was indicted in 2015 on securities fraud charges — and never wants to have his day in court. He is also the subject of a subsequent FBI bribery investigation involving alleged favors for a donor.
No charges have been filed and Paxton has denied any wrongdoing, but he has also asked taxpayers to cover a $3.3 million civil settlement with four of his former aides. These are top deputies who have accused Paxton of firing them in retaliation for making criminal allegations.
Paxton has said he will apologize for calling his former aides “rogue employees.”
Sorry, but that doesn’t sound like much of an apology. For $3.3 million taxpayers should get a little bit more, like say, a resignation. But then who would cover his legal bills?
Paxton, of course, tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and just this fall he tried to outrun a process server. His office’s voter integrity unit spent $2.2 million in 2021 to close three cases. And he promoted conspiracy theories about the Republican-controlled Texas Court of Criminal Appeals after judges there found he could not unilaterally prosecute election cases due to the separation of powers under the Texas Constitution.
Upset about that decision, he then appeared on former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s talk show to make an appeal to voters to either oust judges from the court, or at least pressure them to change their ruling.
In one exchange, Bannon says of the judges: “We are going to make ’em all famous, and they have to understand they are going to be made famous, very famous on a global scale.”
To which Paxton responds: “That is awesome. That’s exactly what they need.”
That appeal led to a flood of threatening messages.
So, if the Texas GOP is truly concerned about “fidelity” to core principles among elected officials, then Paxton strikes us as a natural point of emphasis. Just what Republican principles is he advancing? Has he demonstrated fidelity to the Texas GOP?
They may not like the honest answers to these questions.
Here is an elected official whose tenure has been mired in scandal. One that sought to overturn a free and fair election and whose actions in office may cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
He has shown little regard for other elected officials as evidenced by his remarks about his fellow Republicans at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
In what world is Gonzales censured but Paxton celebrated? Apparently, in the narrow confines of the Texas GOP. As Gonzales said, “Puro pedo.”
San Antonio Express-News
