The state police made him do it.
That’s the excuse Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton gives on his Texas ethics disclosures in place of revealing, as required by law, the addresses of properties he owns in Austin and College Station.
“Redacted for security purposes on request of TX DPS,” the second-term Republican has written on every disclosure form since he began work as attorney general.
There are two problems with that statement: Nothing in the law allows him to refuse to provide the addresses, and none of the parties involved — the Department of Public Safety, Texas Ethics Commission or even Paxton’s own office — could produce any records proving such a request was ever made.
“The department doesn’t have any record of making that request,” DPS spokesman Travis Considine said.
An attorney general’s office spokesman and Paxton’s campaign spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment. State Sen. Angela Paxton, his wife, who has included the same message on her own reports, also could not be reached.
The ethics commission is barred from releasing the Paxtons’ home address in McKinney to the public. He provides that address to the agency annually. It’s unclear, however, why the Paxtons wouldn’t disclose the addresses of their other properties.