Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton (R), traveled to Utah on Wednesday as the brutal winter storms in their home state left dead and millions without power.
Ken Paxton spokesman Ian Prior told Houston Chronicle who left to meet with his Utah counterpart, Attorney General Sean Reyes (R), for a “pre-scheduled meeting.” to discuss issues such as a multistate antitrust lawsuit against Google.
“During his stay, AG Paxton held several meetings with the Utah Attorney General for several days,” Prior told the Chronicle. “I cannot share any further details or specific reasons about the need for the meeting on Google, as it involves an ongoing investigation.”
The spokesman also said Paxton did not lose power in his home and did not leave the state until most households regained power. The Chronicle noted, however, that more than 2 million homes in Texas were still without electricity Wednesday evening.
Paxton is now the third known Texas politician to have left the state amid widespread power outages caused by freezing temperatures.
His. Ted Cruz
Rafael (Ted) Edward Cruz’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ is aimed at Cruz, Cuomo Trump will speak at the CPAC in his first public appearance since he left the White House. Can Ted Cruz dispense with the avalanche of criticism? MONTH (R) received a widespread conviction for traveling to Cancun last week, claiming he had done so at the request of his young daughters. Shortly after the news of Cruz’s trip Thursday morning, he returned to Texas.
Protesters waited at Cruz’s home to greet him, demanding his resignation.
State Representative Gary Gates (R) flew to Florida on Wednesday with a private jet after his own home lost power Reported chronicle. Gates has responded by saying his decision was motivated by his family and noted that pipes had exploded and that 30% of his home was flooded, endangering his daughter and his sick wife.
“My wife is still recovering from an illness she has been battling for two weeks and my adult daughter’s room, which is mentally disabled and still lives with us, was flooded,” Gates said.
Last week, Paxton began an investigation into Texas’ main electric operator, the Texas Electric Reliability Council, the Chronicle reported, saying it would analyze its “extreme manipulation of this week’s extreme winter weather.”
Texas officials have faced widespread scrutiny over their preparations before and treatment of the extreme winter weather, which led to a federal declaration of disasters.