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   XPost: or.politics, alt.atheism   
   From: nowomr@protonmail.com   
      
   Impeached Texas Attorney General Partnered With Troubled Businessman to   
   Push Opioid Program   
   While launching a statewide program to distribute packets to dissolve   
   opioids, Attorney General Ken Paxton worked to connect its leaders with   
   the state’s comptroller, who oversees the distribution of millions of   
   dollars in opioid settlement money.   
      
      
   A year after persuading Texas lawmakers to buy millions of child   
   identification kits that had no proven record of success, a businessman   
   with a troubled history found an in with the state's attorney general.   
      
   Last fall, Kenny Hansmire was tapped by Republican Attorney General Ken   
   Paxton to be part of a coalition to combat opioid abuse that Paxton   
   declared would “be the largest drug prevention, education, abatement and   
   disposal campaign in U.S. history.”   
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   Riffing off the name of a popular book about Texas football, Paxton   
   announced the Friday Night Lights Against Opioids coalition and pilot   
   program. The initiative would distribute 3.5 million packets at high   
   school football games that contain a powder capable of destroying opioids   
   when mixed with water.   
      
   Paxton didn’t provide a price tag for the effort or explain Hansmire’s   
   exact role, but he said a partnership with the businessman’s National   
   Child Identification Program would be important to the program’s success.   
      
   A former NFL player, Hansmire has persuaded leaders in multiple states to   
   spend millions of dollars purchasing inkless fingerprinting kits on the   
   promise that they could help find missing children. Texas alone allocated   
   $5.7 million for kits over the past two years. An investigation published   
   last month by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found little evidence of   
   the kits’ effectiveness and showed that the company exaggerated missing   
   child statistics in its marketing.   
      
   The investigation also revealed that Hansmire has twice pleaded guilty to   
   felony theft and was sanctioned by banking regulators in Connecticut in   
   2015 for his role in an alleged scheme to defraud or mislead investors.   
      
   Paxton has been a key ally for Hansmire. In 2020, he signed a letter to   
   then-President Donald Trump urging him to get behind ultimately   
   unsuccessful legislation that would approve the use of federal money to   
   pay for the child identification kits. Hansmire later honored the attorney   
   general at a Green Bay Packers game for his support.   
      
   For the opioid initiative, Paxton worked to connect Hansmire with Texas   
   Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who oversees the distribution of hundreds of   
   millions of dollars the state is set to receive after settling lawsuits   
   with pharmaceutical companies over their roles in the opioid crisis.   
      
   Paxton discussed the initiative with Hegar, asking him to speak with its   
   leaders, including Hansmire. On multiple occasions, Hansmire “called   
   Comptroller Hegar to ask for funding for the Friday Night Lights program,”   
   said the comptroller’s spokesperson, Chris Bryan.   
      
   Hegar, a Republican former state legislator who served with Paxton in the   
   Texas Senate, declined to entertain Hansmire’s requests and explained that   
   funding decisions will follow a formal approval process that is still   
   being developed, Bryan said. He did not respond to additional questions.   
      
   Hansmire’s financial stake in the opioid initiative is unclear. He did not   
   respond to questions about his role or about his requests for funding from   
   the comptroller. He has previously defended himself and his company,   
   asserting that the fingerprinting kits have made a difference in missing   
   child investigations and that he resolved his financial and legal   
   troubles.   
      
   Over the years, Hansmire has successfully leveraged his relationships with   
   professional and college football teams in promoting his fingerprinting   
   kits, honoring allied lawmakers and attorneys general at high-profile   
   events such as football games.   
      
   While unveiling the opioid program last October, Paxton stood flanked by   
   Hansmire and other former NFL players. Among them: NFL Hall of Famers Mike   
   Singletary, who played for the Chicago Bears, and Randy White, a former   
   Dallas Cowboy. White later participated in the launch of a similar program   
   in Delaware alongside the state’s lieutenant governor. And last month,   
   Mississippi’s attorney general announced the distribution of 500 free   
   “Family Safety Kits.” Each included a child ID kit from Hansmire’s company   
   and a drug disposal packet, which was provided by North Carolina-based   
   DisposeRX. The company, which is also involved in the Texas and Delaware   
   programs, lists Hansmire’s National Child ID Program as an official   
   partner on its website.   
      
   Neither Singletary nor representatives for White or DisposeRX responded to   
   requests for comment.   
      
   Paxton also did not respond to multiple requests for comment and to   
   detailed questions from ProPublica and the Tribune. The news organizations   
   requested records from Paxton’s office that could show the cost of the   
   opioid initiative, the scope of the work and the breakdown of compensation   
   for the companies involved. In response, the attorney general’s office   
   released some emails, including one that contained an August 2022 letter   
   from Paxton to Hansmire proposing to partner on the initiative. The office   
   has fought the disclosure of other records that include communications   
   with a lawmaker about potential legislation and claimed that it has no   
   record of written agreements or expenditures related to the Friday Night   
   Lights Against Opioids program.   
      
   Last month, the attorney general became one of only three state officials   
   in Texas history to be impeached. He has been temporarily suspended while   
   he awaits a trial in the Texas Senate on charges that include bribery,   
   conspiracy and obstruction of justice. (Those charges are not related to   
   the opioid program.)   
      
   The impeachment vote in the Texas House was the culmination of a probe by   
   the lower chamber’s General Investigating Committee. In a memorandum, the   
   panel said the inquiry was initiated by Paxton’s request for $3.3 million   
   to cover a negotiated settlement he announced in February with four former   
   top aides.   
      
   Those aides sued Paxton in 2020 under the state’s whistleblower law,   
   arguing that they were illegally fired after reporting their boss to the   
   FBI for alleged misdeeds, including bribery and leveraging the power of   
   his office to help a political donor.   
      
   Paxton has denied wrongdoing and has dismissed his impeachment as   
   politically motivated.   
   “Slower Approach”   
      
   The week after Paxton announced the proposed settlement of the suit   
   against him, state Sen. Donna Campbell, a New Braunfels Republican, filed   
      
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