Two additional special prosecutors have been appointed to look into criminal allegations against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton involving the sale of land in Collin County, according to one of the prosecutors and Paxton's attorneys.
Miles Brissette, a former Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney, said he and former prosecutor Bob Gill, were appointed in November to conduct a grand jury investigation.
Brissette declined to say what the investigation is focusing on but an attorney for Paxton said it has to do with the sale of land that became the site of the Collin County Appraisal District.
"We have cooperated fully with the attorneys and are confident they will find no wrongdoing," Paxton's attorney Bill Mateja said in a statement.
Mateja said Paxton was "merely a limited partner" in a group that sold the land to a Dallas real estate company, which then sold it to the Central Appraisal District of Collin County.
"Paxton was not involved in the sale of the property ... which is typical of the role of a limited partner," Mateja said.
Brissette and Gill, who also is a former Tarrant County judge, join three other special prosecutors investigating Paxton. Those prosecutors, from Houston, are investigating questions surrounding Paxton's business dealings while he was a state lawmaker and before he was elected attorney general.
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Paxton has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to three felony charges.
In a short statement, Brissette and Gill said, "As former career prosecutors we appreciate what comes with an assignment such as this."
Court records not previously disclosed show the two were appointed on Nov. 13 by Tarrant County District Judge George Gallagher, who is presiding over the case.
In June 2015, the left-leaning group the Lone Star Project raised questions about Paxton's involvement in Collin County land deals and said it asked state and federal authorities to investigate.
Lone Star founder Matt Angle, a longtime Democratic political consultant, said the appointment of the two additional prosecutors means Paxton will have "the shadow of a criminal investigation hanging over his entire tenure as attorney general."
Attorney Ty Clevenger also asked a grand jury to investigate the property sale in October.
