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| Kenny Boy's official mugshot |
Given that this has already been covered in some depth, those crickets can't be from ignorance of the charges. Arguably, the opposite is true, if anything. Top GOPers may well not only be familiar enough with the charges, but give them enough credence that they're staying silent. Indeed, the Post piece compares these crickets to the loud protests when Rick Perry was indicted about a year ago.
Probably, as the story notes, the Texas Rangers' lead role in the Paxton investigation is another factor muting a chorus of protests over Paxton. The Rangers are long known for being thorough and non-partisan in investigations at any level of government within Texas.
Also, per the actual charges, many Republican officials may not just believe the charges are credible, they may have personal experience with the charges being credible. They may feel that Paxton, if they were clients of his, mislead them in some way, shape or form. Add in that the federal SEC was investigating fraud allegations against Servergy, and a few Republicans may even be worried about their money.
Indeed, one GOP consultant calls him "seriously wounded" and notes the GOP silence is "the loudest noise in the room."
Update, 3 p.m. The crickets have gone away now, but state GOPers still don't have too much to say. Aaron Whitehead tosses the stinky old red herring of Planned Parenthood on the table. The Collin County GOP does nothing but roll out tea party talking points.
And, maintaining a fairly high crickets level is the man who pushed Paxton to run for this job, Sen. Ted Cruz.
And Mucus, Micheal Quinn Sullivan of Empower Texas, thinks the reason many top GOPers (Speaker Straus top example) are cromulent with the indictment is that they actually wanted something like this.
Update 2, Aug. 4: Supporting my initial thoughts on the crickets, Steve Rep. Byron Cook may hae been among the "burned." He's one of two complainants on the first-degree felony count. And former state Rep. Bob Griggs sued Servergy in 2014 for various investment documents which the SEC also wanted at the time.
And, the SEC lawsuit lists a number of questionable actions by Servergy, including various versions of bubble-blowing. Makes it sound like Kenny Boy was a rainmaker, and that's why he got his commissions.
Beyond that, Servergy and Kenny Boy gots some unhappy investors, speaking of bubble-blowing:
Lewis Abronski, an Alabama investor, said he invested $50,000 two years after attending a lunch meeting. He said Paxton had nothing to do with his purchase of the stock.
"They send me a letter every once in a while that tells me good things are on the horizon," said Abronski, 94. "At that time, it sounded really rosy, but a lot of these things do."
He did not seem hopeful he'd ever get return on his investment.
Gary Garner, another investor from Alabama, described himself as a "very unhappy" investor.
"It looks like I will never get my money back," he told News 8. "It was kind of sold to us that you will get 10 times your money back, and maybe 20 times."
Garner would not say how much he invested, but he said the minimum buy-in was $50,000.
"I don't usually take out my wallet and light a match to it," he said.
Ken Paxton, wallet-burner.
It sounds like Paxton's in some hot water that can't simply be waved off as politcs, as happened with DeLay and Perry.
ReplyDeleteYou know, for years now, the Republican Party has controlled every single statewide office in Texas, and as a result, quality control has dropped off badly.
But with Paxton under indictment and the governor a laughing stock over the Jade Helm conspiracy, could it be that we have finally hit bottom?