Nate Paul
Travis County law enforcement officials have arrested Nate Paul at the request of the FBI. the Texas Tribune reported.
Paul is the real estate developer “at the center of allegations of illegal conduct by Ken Paxton, the suspended Texas attorney general,” the Tribune reports. But it was not immediately known if his arrest was related to those allegations.
Travis County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Kristen Dark said the arresting agency is the FBI and Paul was booked into the jail at 4:35 p.m. today (Thursday, June 8).
In late 2020, several of Paxton’s top deputies went to the FBI with allegations that Paxton was using the power of the OAG to do favors for Paul, who returned those favors in kind. Paxton used OAG staff and resources to intervene in legal disputes involving Paul, who donated to Paxton’s re-election campaign, employed Paxton’s girlfriend, and remodeled a pair of properties owned by Paxton and the his wife, state senator Angela Paxton.
Federal law enforcement was already investigating Paul’s businesses even before the former OAG deputies’ reports and had raided his homes and businesses in 2019. And Paxton has been federally indicted since July 2015 for securities fraud charges.
—Tammy Nash
