Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's allegiance to Donald Trump -- and the former president's claim that the 2020 elections was stolen from them -- cost Texas taxpayers over $2 million last year, the Houston Chronicle is reporting.
Those tax dollars only turned up three cases that investigators were able to close.
The report notes that Paxton added two more lawyers to his previously 4-person task force, which put in over 20,000 hours looking for any evidence of fraud.
According to the Chronicle, "records from the office show that the unit closed just three cases this year, down from 17 last year, and opened seven new ones. That includes the newly created unit focused on the 2021 local elections, which has yet to file a single case."
According to the head of government watchdog American Oversight, the money and time spent was a wasteful use of taxpayer money.
“This is an exorbitant amount of money that has resulted in no benefit for the average Texan,” said Austin Evers. "Taxpayers are funding a political stunt meant to fuel the false claim of a stolen election and justify voting restrictions.”
The Chronicle report adds, "The scant caseload comes after Texas Republican lawmakers insisted a 2020 election audit was necessary and passed a sweeping elections overhaul bill loaded with voting restrictions that Democrats have warned will have a disproportionate effect on already-marginalized voters. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, under pressure by Trump, initiated reviews of election processes across the state in the fall."
"Paxton’s office has not uncovered any evidence of voter fraud in 2020 beyond isolated incidents affecting a handful of votes in an election in which more than 11 million Texans cast ballots," the Chronicle's Taylor Goldenstein added.
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