Paxton Names Legal Defense Team

After spending more than two weeks without a lawyer, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a defense team in the ongoing financial fraud case against him. 

Paxton announced Thursday via a statement from the law firm of Fish & Richardson that two attorneys — veteran Houston criminal lawyer Dan Cogdell and Terri Moore, a former state and federal prosecutor from Fort Worth — will represent him as he faces three felony charges claiming he violated state securities law. 

The attorney general, who pleaded not guilty to all three charges, faces allegations he misled investors in business dealings before taking office.

Paxton has been reassembling his legal team since late last month when his previous lawyer, Joe Kendall, stepped down during the initial hearing in his case. 

Kendall, a widely respected former federal and state district judge, gave no explanation for his departure beyond saying there were “issues” that made his continued involvement in the case difficult. 

In a motion he had filed with the court that was released to the media after the hearing, Kendall wrote that “differences have arisen that adversely affect the attorney client relationship making continued representation untenable."