Texas attorney general Ken Paxton intervenes in out-of-state coronavirus dispute to help out his wealthy pals

The Texas attorney general helped a donor and college classmate fight a local coronavirus ban in Colorado.

Republican attorney general Ken Paxton intervened in the legal battle against Gunnison County, where local officials had banned outsiders from entering during the coronavirus pandemic, keeping campaign donor and longtime friend Robert McCarter away from his $4 million lakeside home, reported the Associated Press.

McCarter and his neighbors -- also Paxton campaign donors -- had been fighting the order for five days before their state's top law enforcement official wrote a letter to Gunnison County officials, which three hours later granted the waiver those wealthy donors been seeking for their vacation homes.

The Colorado county insists the timing was coincidental, and a Paxton spokesman insisted the action wasn't unusual.

"It is a normal practice for the attorney general to speak with multiple constituents from around Texas about issues pertinent to Texas residents," Marc Rylander.

A Paxton spokeswoman refused to say whether Paxton had spoken to any of the individual homeowners before intervening in the out-of-state legal dispute.