AUSTIN, Texas — A judge on Thursday postponed the criminal trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and moved the case from the Republican’s hometown.
The decision comes a month before Paxton was scheduled to face a jury on felony securities-fraud charges. He’s accused of steering investors toward a tech startup without disclosing he was being paid by the company.
State District Judge George Gallagher didn’t immediately set a new trial date.
The delay comes after prosecutors threatened to quit the case over not being paid. They say they’re owed more than $200,000 and haven’t been paid in more than a year. That money is tied up in court after a Paxton supporter sued over the mounting legal fees footed by taxpayers.
Paxton has pleaded innocent to the charges.
Special prosecutors had claimed the jury pool in suburban Collin County, outside Dallas, has been tainted by Republican supporters and even former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, who told a Dallas TV station in February that “this is a case that is pure political vendetta against a politician.”
The special prosecutors told Gallagher that a “twoyear long crusade” of lawsuits, social media posts, leaks and a public relations blitz surrounding the case has made it impossible to get a fair and impartial trial.