This is Totally Normal Quote of the Day, a feature highlighting a statement from the news that exemplifies just how extremely normal everything has become.
“Something is wrong when the state’s top lawyer is forced to take a class on how to be a good lawyer.” —Texas Democrat John Bucy III
Three weeks before Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was scheduled to face a jury trial over felony fraud charges, he reached an eleventh-hour deal with state prosecutors. It’s the second win for Paxton this year—six months ago, he was acquitted of 16 corruption charges in a dramatic impeachment case that rocked the Texas GOP.
Now Paxton has agreed to pay about $271,000 in restitution, complete 100 hours of community service, and take 15 hours of legal ethics education. (As Democratic state House Rep. John Bucy III noted, a bit ironic for the state’s top law enforcement officer.) In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop three felony charges that could have landed Paxton in prison for decades had he been convicted. The attorney general’s lawyer stressed that there was no admission of guilt involved with this settlement, insisting that prosecutors, despite........