A Democratic trial lawyer has sent a letter to the SEC attacking Texas AG candidate State Senator Ken Paxton–one week before early voting begins. Rather than an accurate headline acknowledging a political hit job was in process and that there existed great political benefit to the person who sent the letter, a Texas media outlet began reporting the matter as though it was something of substance–not indicating that anyone can send a letter to the SEC at any time they choose.
The San Antonio Express News, widely known for its left-of-center spin on Texas matters, ran a headline that is at best close to the line of deception. They titled their article, “Paxton Draws Complaint with SEC.”
The clear implication is that the SEC has filed a complaint, when the truth is that Democratic trial lawyer John Sloan mailed a letter to the SEC asking for candidate Paxton to be investigated–the letter was not even a formal complaint.
In an exclusive interview with Breitbart Texas, Anthony Holm, Paxton’s campaign spokesman, stated, “The reporter for the San Antonio Express News and his editor admitted on a phone call between us that every SEC official or expert they contacted said no duty exists with the SEC like it does with the state. They admitted that there was no harm or potential harm, but still ran the story.”
“When it was pointed out that the Democratic trial lawyer involved in this, John Sloan, had sued Ken Paxton previously and lost, the paper still refused to question Sloan’s motives,” said Holm. “We also sent them documentation proving that John Sloan made 124 donations to Democrats and Democratic groups in the past 15 years. We also pointed out that this letter was being sent 11 days before early voting.”
Sadly, State Rep. Dan Branch, Paxton’s opponent, also apparently attempted to capitalize on the false SEC narrative, according to Holm. “Dan Branch also brought up the SEC to the media, even though any first year law student knows better. The sloppy paperwork issue that Paxton made a mistake on is a state administrative statute, not a federal requirement.”
Holm said, “The fact that a Democratic trial lawyer clearly wants Dan Branch in the position of Texas Attorney General should be terrifying to everyone in our great state.”
Breitbart Texas discovered that the Dan Branch campaign’s involvement in the false SEC narrative did not stop at Branch himself simply mentioning it to media, as Holm asserted. Lucas Sheffield, who identifies himself as the grassroots field director for the Dan Branch campaign, began pumping out the deceptive San Antonio Express News article to campaign followers on his Twitter account. Breitbart Texas reached out to the Branch campaign to clarify the role of Sheffield, but the campaign declined to answer any questions.
This is not the first time what appears to be high-level campaign staff for Dan Branch have engaged in either deceptive, or simply bizarre, behavior.
Breitbart Texas previously reported on an issue regarding Dan Branch and an amendment he introduced that could have expanded the use of late-term abortions in Texas.
In that instance, Branch Campaign Manager Enrique Marquez was sent a media request by a Breitbart reporter. Instead of responding, Marquez sent out an immediate press release attacking the reporter. The media request pertained to a previous amendment that Branch had attempted to introduce into a Texas bill that could have expanded the authority of Texas abortionists to have greater leeway in deciding when to perform late-term abortions. The Branch campaign responded by listing other bills Branch was involved in and refused to address the issue of the consequences Branch’s amendment could have had on defenseless lives inside of wombs. The bizarre behavior from Marquez ultimately backfired and brought larger attention to the issue than the article otherwise would have on its own. The original bill’s sponsor ultimately denounced Dan Branch for “distorting” the truth on his failed amendment–a denouncement that likely would not have occurred were it not for the actions of Marquez.
The Branch campaign recently seized upon the above mentioned administrative paperwork mistakes of Paxton, a payroll tax issue for the campaign staff, and Paxton having failed to disclose his involvement on the boards of certain nonprofit groups. The Branch campaign largely backed off many of the attacks once it became known to the public that the nonprofit groups were actually efforts to help society’s most vulnerable, such as women who had been abused, children who had been abused, Alzheimers patients, and those who do not have access to Bibles.
Breitbart Texas sought comment from the Branch campaign on the issues presented in this article. The only response included a suggestion that I go to a website attacking State Senator Ken Paxton.
Follow Brandon Darby on Twitter: @brandondarby and Facebook
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