Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and his wife, State Senator Angela Paxton (R), traveled to Utah on Wednesday, when the violent winter storms in her home state left dozens dead and millions without energy.
Ken Paxton’s spokesman Ian Prior told the Houston Chronicle that he left to meet his Utah counterpart, Attorney General Sean Reyes (R), for a “previously planned meeting” to discuss issues like a multi-state antitrust lawsuit against Google.
“While there, AG Paxton had several meetings with the Utah Attorney General over the course of several days,” the Prior told the Chronicle. “I cannot share any more details or specific reasons about the need for the Google meeting, as it involves an ongoing investigation.”
The spokesman also said that Paxton did not lose energy at his home and did not leave the state until most families had power again. The Chronicle noted, however, that more than 2 million families in Texas were still without power as of Wednesday night.
Paxton is now the third Texas politician known to have left the state amid widespread power cuts caused by low temperatures.
Sen. Ted Cruz
Rafael (Ted) Edward Cruz ‘Saturday Night Live’ targets Cruz, Cuomo Trump to speak at CPAC in his first public appearance since leaving the White House. Can Ted Cruz overcome the avalanche of criticism? MOST (R) was widely convicted of traveling to Cancún last week, claiming he did so at the request of his daughters. Shortly after news of Cruz’s trip was released Thursday morning, he returned to Texas.
The protesters waited at Cruz’s house to greet him, asking for his resignation.
State Representative Gary Gates (R) flew to Florida in a private jet on Wednesday after his own home lost power, the Reported chronic. Gates responded by saying that his decision was motivated by his family, noting that his pipes had burst and 30 percent of his home was flooded, putting his sick daughter and wife in danger.
“My wife is still recovering from an illness she has been struggling with for two weeks, and my adult daughter’s room, which is mentally handicapped and still lives with us, has flooded,” said Gates.
Paxton last week launched an investigation into Texas’s top energy operator, the Texas Electric Reliability Council, noted the Chronicle, saying it would investigate “this week’s mishandling of extreme winter weather”.
Texas officials have faced extensive scrutiny for their preparations before and how to deal with the extreme winter, which led to a federal disaster declaration.