AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – The Texas attorney general has been indicted for allegedly duping investors in a tech startup, and the agriculture commissioner reportedly used tax dollars to travel to obtain a so-called “Jesus shot” supposedly offering long-term relief from pain.
So far, fellow Republicans are all but ignoring the troubles.
Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has been charged with two felonies, and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who last year unapologetically shared a Facebook post that suggested using a nuclear bomb on the Muslim population, coasted to election in 2014 as part of a new slate of GOP leaders. Other Republicans who won that year included Gov. Greg Abbott and Land Commissioner George P. Bush, son of Jeb Bush.
Democrats, who have called on Paxton to resign, lament what they call the pitfall of a politically one-sided state. Republicans seem content to stay quiet.
“What we’ve seen is rather endorsement by silence,” said Manny Garcia, head of the state’s bedraggled Democratic Party, which has not won a statewide election since 1994. “It’s disappointing that the Republican Party isn’t willing to speak out when it sees bad behavior on behalf of their statewide officials.”