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Nate Paul, the Austin real estate developer central to allegations of illegal conduct by Ken Paxton, Texas’ now-suspended attorney general, was booked into the Travis County Jail on Thursday on a federal warrant.
Paul was booked into the jail at 4:25 p.m., said Kristen Dark, a spokesperson for the Travis County Sheriff’s Office. The arresting agency is the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Paul’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Calls to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District and Paxton were also not immediately returned.
A spokesperson for the FBI office in San Antonio declined comment, citing Justice Department guidelines.
It’s not immediately clear whether his arrest is related to those allegations, but Paul is at the center of the abuse-of-office complaints against Paxton, a three-term Republican attorney general who was impeached by the Texas House last month. Paxton is currently suspended from his official duties and awaiting an impeachment trial in the Senate, which would require a two-thirds vote to permanently remove him from office.
Former top deputies in Paxton’s office claimed in 2020 that Paxton was using his office to benefit Paul, a friend and political donor, in legal disputes. Paul is an Austin real estate investor, and the former employees told authorities that Paxton ordered staff in the attorney general’s office to get involved in legal disputes related to Paul’s businesses. Those reports led to an FBI investigation.
Prior to the former employees’ reports, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies were already investigating Paul’s businesses. In late 2019, the feds and the Texas Department of Public Safety had raided Paul’s homes and businesses.
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