A new sheriff in town? Alleged securities fraud takes down Texas' top cop.

Sometimes knowing the rules does not mean you follow them. Although he was the and ‘tireless conservative warrior’Texas Attorney General, that wasn’t enough to shield Ken Paxton from alleged securities fraud that took place before he took office in January. In an indictment unsealed on Monday, August 3, 2015, Paxton was alleged to have persuaded a state lawmaker and a private citizen to invest more than $100,000 in shares of Servergy, Inc. Paxton reportedly told investors that he was personally invested in Servergy but he allegedly failed to mention that Servergy was also compensating Paxton with stock shares. Obviously this, if true, would be a ‘material misrepresentation’ as any investor would probably take into consideration whether the stock salesman was being compensated and therefore potentially making a recommendation with an undisclosed conflict of interest. The big question now is whether his stature as a prominent conservative Republican will protect him from the process of law and result in minimal negative impact if the allegations are found true. The alleged actions of guys like this not only hurt their states but they set a bad example for younger generations who at one point looked up to those in power. Sadly, this is an all to common side effect of being in government or any other position of power. But what can be done? Human nature being what it is, there is no telling who will be the next exposed criminal and who will honorably and faithfully serve their constituents. I should be jaded by now but I like to think that politicians, particularly a state’s attorney general, would be free from such allegations. That is, I’d hope they’d know better.