Representative Chip Roy (R., Texas) called on Texas attorney general Ken Paxton to resign on Monday over allegations of bribery and other federal offenses.
Seven top aides to Paxton wrote in a letter on October 1 that they believed the attorney general “is violating federal and/or state law, including prohibitions relating to improper influence, abuse of office, bribery, and other potential criminal offenses.” The letter was did not outline specific offenses. Paxton responded to the allegations by accusing the writers of attempting to undermine a criminal investigation into members of his office.
“The complaint filed against Attorney General Paxton was done to impede an ongoing investigation into criminal wrongdoing by public officials including employees of this office,” Paxton’s office said in a statement to the American-Statesman, which broke the story.
However, Representative Roy criticized Paxton’s alleged conduct on Monday.
“For the good of the people of Texas and the extraordinary public servants who serve at the Office of the Attorney General, Attorney General Ken Paxton must resign,” Roy wrote on his Facebook page. “Any grace for him to resolve differences and demonstrate if the allegations are false was eliminated by his choice instead to attack the very people entrusted, by him, to lead the office – some of whom I know well and whose character are beyond reproach.”
Roy is currently in a close race with Democratic rival Wendy Davis for the 21st congressional district in Texas. The district has elected just three different representatives since 1979, all of them Republicans.
This is not the first time Paxton has been accused of criminal conduct. The attorney general was indicted on felony securities fraud charges in 2015, and has not yet been brought to trial.