- Texas AG Ken Paxton and his wife, state Angela Paxton, left for Utah last week when Texas froze, according to the Houston Chronicle.
- Paxton is one of several public officials in Texas who left in the midst of the crisis.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, Senator Angela Paxton, flew to Utah last week for work meetings as Texas dealt with extreme winter weather and massive power outages, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The Paxtons left for Utah last Wednesday, the same day that U.S. Senator Ted Cruz traveled from Texas and his family to Cancun, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Ian Prior, spokesman for Paxton’s campaign, told the Dallas Morning News that Attorney General traveled with Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes on Wednesday and Friday.
According to Prior, the two Republicans discussed an antitrust lawsuit in Texas, Utah, and others against Google, with Paxton also attending a police training program. Prior did not share with the Morning News whether the trip was paid for using state money or out of pocket.
“I can not share further details or the specific reasons about the need for the meeting regarding Google, as it involves an ongoing investigation,” Prior told the Morning News.
Angela Paxton, a spokeswoman for state senator, told the Morning News that she “joined AG Paxton on a previously planned trip to Utah, which includes meetings that favor her efforts to promote human dignity and support law enforcement.” Representatives of the couple claimed that the trip was for work purposes.
On Wednesday night, the first day AG Paxton allegedly met with Reyes, Paxton criticized the state’s power network operator and power grid companies on Twitter – promising to investigate the Electric Reliability Council of Texas – which also shared a number that Texans could call to report pricing.
Paxton tweeted: “They left 3+ million homes without power for days, including my own,” Paxton tweeted Wednesday night. “What are they doing in response? Rising prices, keeping quiet, making excuses and playing the blame. This is unacceptable!”
On Thursday, while the couple was in Utah, Angela Paxton tweeted a call for Texans to stay home.
“The roads still remain dangerous. Please stay at home if you can, and be extremely careful if you have to drive,” she said. tweeted.
The Attorney General’s Office is responsible for responding to reports of prize money, which was particularly applicable to bottled water and hotel rooms because millions of Texans are losing heat and water.
Prior, Paxton’s spokesman, confirmed that the Paxtons had lost power at their residence but did not leave the state, “until power returned to most of the state, including its own home.”
Paxton’s office could not be immediately reached for comment.
ERCOT reported Wednesday morning that at least 2.7 million households in Texas do not have power. And by that evening, nearly 12 million Texans had problems with their water service due to the aftermath of the storm and interruptions.