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World Class Holdings offices raided

Judge Roybeanbag

By Judge Roybeanbag
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atomheartbevo 89629

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Posted

https://www.statesman.com/news/20201014/paxton-top-aide-quit-before-being-put-on-investigative-leave

Quote

In his first interview since top aides accused him of official misconduct, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he was about to place his second in command, Jeff Mateer, on investigative leave before Mateer quit on Oct. 2.

Paxton, speaking to the Southeast Texas Record, said he suspected that Mateer resigned after catching wind of the pending sanction in an attempt to drive a “narrative” of negative stories about Paxton.

Quote

But Mateer, who had kept a low profile since leaving as first assistant attorney general, broke his silence Wednesday to say he did not know of Paxton’s plans to place him on leave.

“He never mentioned to me that he was going to put me on investigative leave,” Mateer told the American-Statesman. “I decided to resign at 4:30 on Friday (Oct. 2),” not long after telling Paxton via text message that he and six top aides had spoken to federal law enforcement about their concerns over Paxton’s “relationship and activities with Nate Paul,” an Austin businessman who was under federal investigation.

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In his interview with the Southeast Texas Record, Paxton also said he reluctantly stopped his agency’s investigation into a complaint made by Paul after Travis County prosecutors closed their file on the case Friday, depriving his agency of the authority to continue.

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He also indicated that other investigative avenues may be pursued.

“There are some red flags here worth investigating,” he told the Record in a story posted Tuesday. “We’re looking at all options. I want to make sure your constitutional rights are protected, no matter who you are.”

I can't believe he's still wiling to do this.

And he's still not justifying why he picked a lawyer who's been lawyering 5 years, who had not been involved in investigating financial crimes, etc.

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89629

Posted
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@Brisketexan @Ghost of LL @TwiceHorn etc. you all will love this one.  Cammack has no idea why Paxton called him, and he had never met Paxton before.  Out of who knows how many attorneys, Paxton chose somebody he didn't know.  

But hey, he had a "successful practice” in Houston for about two and a half years.  So he's got that going for him.

https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/14/ken-paxton-brandon-cammack-texas-attorney-general/

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Outside attorney Brandon Cammack said he'd never met Paxton before he was asked to apply for the position, but he “rose to the occasion” in accepting a major assignment.

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Houston defense attorney Brandon Cammack got an unexpected phone call in mid-August. It was Attorney General Ken Paxton, who Cammack had never spoken to, personally asking him to interview for a high-profile assignment.

It was an unusual start to what aides called a troubling process of hiring the outside attorney to vet a complaint filed by a Paxton political donor, and it has led to a mutiny from many of Paxton’s most senior staff members and new criminal allegations against the second-term Republican. 

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Cammack declined to answer questions about his work for the agency or speculate as to why Paxton called him about the job. But said he “rose to the occasion” in accepting a major assignment from the state’s top lawyer and that the fallout has been “unexpected.”

“When one of the highest elected officials in the state reached out to me to go conduct this investigation, knowing what my background and knowing what my experience was, with regards to state law claims... I took it seriously,” Cammack told The Texas Tribune Tuesday.

“I don’t know anything about office politics… I don’t know anything about [the relationship] between people. I was called to duty. I showed up for duty,” he said.

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Paxton responded for the first time this week in an interview with the Southeast Texas Record, an outlet that says it focuses on legal issues. He blamed the senior aides who have accused him of wrongdoing of impeding the investigation.

“All I ever asked them to do was find the truth,” Paxton said of the aides he has dismissed as “rogue employees.”

Quote

They also raised concerns that Cammack — who is connected to Wynne through their involvement in the Downtown Rotary Club of Houston and the Houston Bar Association — lacked the experience for such a high-profile assignment.

Cammack said the subpoenas were issued by a Travis County judge and that he never went before a grand jury. He submitted an application for subpoenas to the Travis County district attorney’s office and they assisted in getting them issued, he said. He declined to answer other questions about the subpoenas, including which judge issued them, and his role.

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Cammack also disputed the notion that he lacked experience, saying he’d had a “successful practice” in Houston for about two and a half years, handling primarily criminal defense work. His investigation for the attorney general’s office centered on violations of the Texas penal code — “something I'm very well versed in having handled hundreds of cases for hundreds of families here in Harris County and contiguous counties.”

He said he was “not friends” with Wynne, but declined to say why Wynne was present when at least one subpoena was delivered. He also would not specify Paxton’s involvement in his work or provide specifics about his investigation.

 

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105078

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

@Brisketexan @Ghost of LL @TwiceHorn etc. you all will love this one.  Cammack has no idea why Paxton called him, and he had never met Paxton before.  Out of who knows how many attorneys, Paxton chose somebody he didn't know.  

But hey, he had a "successful practice” in Houston for about two and a half years.  So he's got that going for him.

https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/14/ken-paxton-brandon-cammack-texas-attorney-general/

 

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105078

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I suspect that either it was to appear to Paul as if he was doing something without actually doing much.  Or, he thought he could manipulate a youngster into doing his bidding.  Maybe both?

Are there multiple ways to stage a goat rodeo?  Yes? Then bet on this all-star team doing that.

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31440

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Are there multiple ways to stage a goat rodeo?  Yes? Then bet on this all-star team doing that.

Probably several more we haven't thought of, since we are not generally goat rodeo empresarios.  Unwilling participants, sure, promoters and organizers, nope.

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89629

Posted
Posted

What's working against the AG, is that even as he's going hard in the paint on attacking his staffers (and by proxy defending Nate Paul), all of these other folks (Abbott, Chip Roy, Cornyn, etc.) are vouching for his staff and some are even calling for him to step down.

This is a simulation of the AG's interview this week, attacking his staffers:

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That Guy

That Guy 955

Posted
Posted (edited)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.texastribune.org/2020/10/20/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-aide-fired/amp/

 

Top aide in Texas attorney general's office terminated after accusing Ken Paxton of bribery

 

The departure "was not voluntary," said Lacey Mase, one of several senior aides who said Attorney General Ken Paxton used his office to serve the interests of a donor.

Edited by That Guy
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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105078

Posted
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What a shit...SHOW. And this is not good for the people of Texas. Believe it or not, a functioning AG office is important. There’s a lot of workaday stuff the AG does, some of it mundane, some of it actually high profile. Some of the folks impacted by all of this bullshit are important to that functionality.

But Paxton has never given a single shit about the State of Texas, no reason to expect him to start now.

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89629

Posted
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https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/22/texas-ken-paxton-whistleblower-bribery/

Quote

A second whistleblower has been fired from the Texas attorney general’s office after reporting his boss, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, to law enforcement for crimes including bribery and abuse of office, according to a former senior official with the agency who had knowledge about the firing but did not want to be named for fear of legal repercussions.

 

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89629

Posted
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https://www.texastribune.org/2020/11/06/ken-paxton-nate-paul-deposition/

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Court documents show friendly relationship between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Nate Paul, donor at the center of new criminal allegations

Paul’s testimony included a reference to having hired a woman who, according to two people who were told by Paxton, was involved in an extramarital relationship with the attorney general.

Quote

In a transcript of the deposition obtained by The Texas Tribune on Wednesday, Paul said that he could not recall exactly when he met Paxton but that it was “several years ago.”

Paul said he considers “the relationship, you know, positive,” when asked by a lawyer in the deposition whether they were friends.

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The two sometimes ate lunch together, but Paul could not say how many times, he said in the deposition. He also said they had been in touch recently, when he offered condolences to Paxton, whose mother died in late October.

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Paul did not answer several questions during the hourslong deposition, which came as part of a legal dispute between Paul and the Roy F. and Joann Cole Mitte Foundation, an Austin-based nonprofit that provides grants to charitable organizations and academic scholarships for financially needy students. The nonprofit sued Paul’s firm in 2018, claiming he wasn’t sharing financial information about jointly owned investments managed by his businesses.

Paxton’s office took the unusual step of intervening in that lawsuit this summer, but reversed its decision shortly before the senior aides’ complaints were made public.

 

 

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Esque

Esque 135

Posted
Posted

If you'd like to tumble further down the rabbit hole, spend some time looking into the World Class assets.

As an example, World Class Holdings owned about 200 AC of Property located at 700 Bunton, Kyle, TX under WC KYLE 200 LP.  The Property was deeded over to a RPC KYLE LLC in December 2019, after the FBI raid.  RPC KYLE LLC is registered to a Mr. Ariah Rastegar.  Ariah Rastegar is good friends with Nate Paul.  Perhaps there's too many dots being connected here, but if you watch over the assets, it looks like Nate has been executing related party (or at least a non-arms length) transactions.  There's only so much public information available about these transactions, unfortunately.  Only the parties involved would know the exact details, but I'm surprised he can operate in this manner given the pending investigation.

I think the reality is there are a number of bad actors / Sponsors in Texas real estate that need to be flushed out.  So will be interesting to see how this progresses.

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smokebomb

smokebomb 357

Posted
Posted

I'm sure this is not related at all:

https://kvia.com/news/crime/2020/11/14/several-people-believed-shot-as-gunfire-rings-out-in-central-el-paso/

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Attorney couple ID’d as central El Paso shooting victims: wife killed, husband remains hospitalized

UPDATE, Nov. 17: The victims in a weekend shooting at a central El Paso home have been identified, both were lawyers who worked for the Texas Attorney General's Office.

Georgette Kaufman was shot and killed, while her husband 47-year-old Daniel Kaufman remained hospitalized Tuesday in stable condition but was expected to recover.

The couple's 16-year-old son was in Dallas for a fencing tournament at the time of the shootings, according to his coaches. The teen has been staying with another relative since his return to El Paso on Sunday.

Police have not yet made any arrests in the attack.

ORIGINAL REPORT, Nov. 14: EL PASO, Texas -- A woman was killed and a man wounded in a shooting Saturday evening at a central El Paso home and police were searching for the gunman.

Detectives remained at the scene into the late night hours actively investigating the shooting, which took place in the 3000 block of Copper Avenue near Memorial Park.

Police said a woman was found shot dead at the house, while a 47-year-old man was wounded. The survivor was hospitalized in stable condition.

Heavily-armed officers could be seen in the neighborhood following the shooting as they scoured the area and the nearby park looking for the shooter as a helicopter buzzed overhead.

A police spokesman said an arrest had not yet been made and authorities were continuing to look for "somebody that is outstanding."

Investigators did not indicate the relationship between the shooting victims or identify a potential motive for the attack.

 

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bluto

bluto 4914

Posted
Posted

Anybody looking for a job in Dallas? Incredible opp here

https://neuvoo.com/view/?id=03c816c48595&ikey=17YzLguOoMphmpmXKTJxFY-5giVze&jlkey=uy7b2-5sfFFuarh6I0B_PHJEBO8xVnsD3&oapply=org_v2020-12&puid=gddg3dedgadd3de8fddf3dea3aed3decbda8dd9b4da7fdabaea33def3deb9ed38bdbcbdd8cdcfed3gddf9ddagd&recID=QOkq_I_05PH0sEYY2LA_zARL&source=jobcase_bulk&utm_medium=jobcase_bulk&utm_source=partner&splitab=1&action=emailAlert

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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the building is shittastic but that's not Nate's fault.  It's looked like that for decades.  But yeah, it kind of encapsulates his business model.  Buy or ground lease, hold, don't improve, don't lease, pretend it's cash flowing positive, don't return calls from Treasury Agents.  Rinse and repeat.  With the Marriott across the street finally delivered, I think that tract will fetch an attractive price provided it comes out the WCPC bankruptcy debacle with clean title and no dead bodies undernearth it. 

If you ever have the chance to sneak into that building (it's been 15 years since I did it last), there's a big space on the western side of the building that looks a helluva lot like the warehouse in "Reservoir Dogs."  /csb.

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Armybrat

Armybrat 40824

Posted
Posted
On 11/16/2020 at 10:37 AM, Dendox said:

this could get interesting

 

🍿

No kidding. World Class has owned the 50 acre parcel next to my 25 acres near the COTA for a few years. Don’t know if it has sold or not, but the grapevine mentioned $5,000,000.

Apparently the place is under development now as a large industrial park with several buildings that will cover about 30% of the property. Bring it on!

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MagicSoccerSpray

MagicSoccerSpray 1732

Posted
Posted
On 12/4/2020 at 5:42 AM, Lobo said:

the building is shittastic but that's not Nate's fault.  It's looked like that for decades.  But yeah, it kind of encapsulates his business model.  Buy or ground lease, hold, don't improve, don't lease, pretend it's cash flowing positive, don't return calls from Treasury Agents.  Rinse and repeat.  With the Marriott across the street finally delivered, I think that tract will fetch an attractive price provided it comes out the WCPC bankruptcy debacle with clean title and no dead bodies undernearth it. 

If you ever have the chance to sneak into that building (it's been 15 years since I did it last), there's a big space on the western side of the building that looks a helluva lot like the warehouse in "Reservoir Dogs."  /csb.

That place has had some great parties over the years. Good raves and sxsw shows.

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89629

Posted
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Paxton and Nate Paul are fucked.

https://apnews.com/article/us-news-ken-paxton-elections-crime-texas-8d1918c899f09852acad9f4140ea254a

Quote

But criminal allegations from Paxton’s top deputies have set him up to square off against a formidable new opponent: A federal prosecutor with a team of seasoned FBI agents and a track record of getting corrupt public officials sent to prison.

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Paxton has not been charged with a crime in the months since eight senior officials in the attorney general’s office reported him to the FBI for bribery, abuse of office and other offenses allegedly committed in helping a wealthy donor trying to fend off his own federal investigation. Federal investigators are digging into the attorney general’s actions and connections to Nate Paul, an Austin real estate developer who employs a woman with whom Paxton is said to have had an extramarital affair. 

Overseeing the effort is San Antonio-based Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Blackwell, according to a person familiar with the probe who insisted on anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

 

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Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, swraith said:

I’m not betting against Paxton until I finally see him in jail.

Are Nate Paul and the others who could testify against him, fully loyal to him?  Because this whole thing feels like everybody's ready to start ratting out each other to help save their own necks (if they haven't already), and in this scenario, Paxton is the biggest fish.

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40acredropout

40acredropout 2902

Posted
Posted
On 12/3/2020 at 8:50 PM, bluto said:

Anybody looking for a job in Dallas? Incredible opp here

https://neuvoo.com/view/?id=03c816c48595&ikey=17YzLguOoMphmpmXKTJxFY-5giVze&jlkey=uy7b2-5sfFFuarh6I0B_PHJEBO8xVnsD3&oapply=org_v2020-12&puid=gddg3dedgadd3de8fddf3dea3aed3decbda8dd9b4da7fdabaea33def3deb9ed38bdbcbdd8cdcfed3gddf9ddagd&recID=QOkq_I_05PH0sEYY2LA_zARL&source=jobcase_bulk&utm_medium=jobcase_bulk&utm_source=partner&splitab=1&action=emailAlert

Over the past 3 years I’m not sure there has been longer than a 2 week stretch where there weren’t multiple “development” analyst / associate / vp job listings posted for WC.  Early on their reputation was bad enough within the industry but now it just takes a simple google to see all the smoke.  Can’t imagine how anyone would go work there at this point.

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Tailgate

Tailgate 3021

Posted
Posted
On 12/25/2020 at 11:13 AM, 40acredropout said:

Over the past 3 years I’m not sure there has been longer than a 2 week stretch where there weren’t multiple “development” analyst / associate / vp job listings posted for WC.  Early on their reputation was bad enough within the industry but now it just takes a simple google to see all the smoke.  Can’t imagine how anyone would go work there at this point.

The grammatical issues in there....

”Promptly responding to tenant and owner requests in a professional manager.”

oh yeah....

The number one trait: “High degree of integrity“

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40acredropout

40acredropout 2902

Posted
Posted (edited)
13 minutes ago, Tailgate said:

“High degree of integrity“

Lol. 

I personally enjoy how the company Linkedin touts 51-200 employees but if you look, there are actually only 7 listed profiles.  1 of which is Nate Paul, 3 of which are (bots?) in India.  

They certainly also indirectly "employ" dozens of contractors but just another example of World Class hubris.

 

Edited by 40acredropout
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