Ed Morrissey

That's a pretty good deal for Paxton, even if it does mean parting with $300,000. That makes this dispute into a civil rather than criminal offense, for all intents and purposes, and won't even leave him with a record. Assuming Paxton completes his part of the plea deal, it leaves him with his political options still open. 

This isn't his only legal headache. Paxton faces a lawsuit from the State Bar of Texas for allegedly misrepresenting facts in his Supreme Court brief in which he claimed to possess proof of voter fraud in four other states. There's also a whistleblower lawsuit pending with allegations of bribery in that mix. But this was the only case that threatened Paxton with actual prison time.