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Texas AG was in Utah as his home state suffered historic freeze, power outages

Texas AG Ken Paxton
Posted at 7:43 AM, Feb 23, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-23 07:43:15-05

AUSTIN, Texas — A spokesman for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says the Republican took a previously scheduled trip to Utah during a historic winter freeze back home.

The trip to meet with Utah's attorney general wasn't previously known publicly.

A spokesman says Paxton didn't leave Texas until power had been restored to most of the state. But the office of Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes says the two men met Wednesday when at least two million homes and businesses in Texas were still without power and millions more were under water boil notices.

Paxton made no mention of his trip on Twitter, where he continuously bashed power companies and regulators throughout the tweet.

Ian Prior, Paxton's spokesperson, said Paxton and Reyes met to discuss an antitrust lawsuit that has been filed against Google and to attend a law enforcement simulation. The Associated Press reports that it is unclear whether Paxton has returned to Texas.

Paxton's trip comes days after it was revealed that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, left the state for a vacation to Cancun, Mexico amid the winter storm and widespread power outages.

Cruz initially told the media that he only planned to escort his family for a pre-planned trip and then immediately return. But leaked text messages show that Cruz and his family had planned an impromptu vacation amid the power outages and planned to stay through the weekend.