Ken Paxton’s crookedness is like a virus spreading all over the country.

The story starts here. Lots of Texans have summer homes in Colorado, and a lot of them have million dollar homes there.

When a small county in the Colorado mountains banished everyone but locals to blunt the spread of the coronavirus, an unlikely outsider raised a fuss: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who called it an affront to Texans who own property there and pressed health officials to soften the rules.

“The banishment of nonresident Texas homeowners is entirely unconstitutional and unacceptable,” Paxton said in a news release April 9, when his office sent a letter asking authorities in Gunnison County to reverse course.

Unconstitutional? Why, my goodness, that’s a heady word to be tossing around in another state where I seriously doubt that Paxton has a home, a recognized license to practice law, or even has a sled. What Paxton does have is gall and a pay-to-play attitude.

On April 9, Paxton sent a letter to small Gunnison County from the official office of the Texas Attorney General “urging” them to reverse course and let part-timers come stay at their property during the lockdown.

The remote community of 17,000 people has only one hospital with 24 beds and no intensive care unit, and health officials cited the scarcity of resources in ordering nonresidents to leave.

This is happening at the height of Texas requiring people from New York and Louisiana to self-quarantine for 14 days.

So why is is important for Texans to be allowed to come back to one small county in Colorado where it just so happens that college friend of Paxton’s (Robert McCarter) has a $4 million home?

Paxton has at least nine donors in Texas who own property in Gunnison County, and who collectively have given him and his wife nearly $2 million in political contributions.

Less than three hours after Paxton announced the letter, Gunnison County granted McCarter an exemption to stay, according to documents obtained by AP. The county says the timing was coincidental.

Ken Paxton: Still indicted for tax fraud.

Thanks to Anna the Geek for the heads up.