KEN PAXTON, the Republican attorney-general of Texas, campaigned on promises to uphold the state’s role as “a beacon of freedom and liberty to the nation”. Less than a year after being sworn into office, he has been indicted by a Texas grand jury on three felony charges—for committing securities fraud and for failing to register with the state’s securities board. According to documents unsealed on August 3rd, Mr Paxton allegedly encouraged two acquaintances, one a Republican state congressman, to invest in a technology firm called Servergy, Inc, based in McKinney, Texas, Mr Paxton’s hometown. The attorney-general himself had not invested in the firm, but received 100,000 shares of Servergy stock as compensation for help with the sales of securities—facts he did not disclose to those he advised. As documents for his indictment were due to be unsealed, Mr Paxton turned himself in to be booked and fingerprinted at the Collins County courthouse. A gaggle of reporters waited there to witness his shame.

Though Mr Paxton has said that he will plead “not guilty”, things do not look so good for the state’s lawyer-in-chief. The charges look more serious than those levied against Rick Perry, the former governor and Republican presidential hopeful, who was indicted last year for abuse of power in office. Texans for Public Justice (TPJ), an Austin-based non-profit watchdog, brought the criminal complaint against Mr Perry, and a grand jury chose to indict. But even liberal commentators thought the charges weak and politically tinged.

It would be harder to say the same of Mr Paxton’s case, though it also originated with a complaint from the TPJ. The felonious business over Servergy—which itself is facing questions of fraud from the federal Securities and Exchange Commission—was discovered when the Texas Rangers, the criminal investigation arm of the state’s law enforcement, took on the inquiry.

Colleagues in office have not been keen to defend Mr Paxton as they did Mr Perry. The governor, Greg Abbott, has given a noncommittal statement about the importance of due process. Dan Patrick, the lieutenant-governor and Tea Party favourite (like Mr Paxton), has stayed silent. Ted Cruz, the firebrand Senator from Texas and presidential aspirant whose support for Mr Paxton last year helped him secure the nomination in the primaries, has also stayed mum.

It may be tough for prosecutors to come away with a guilty verdict for the most serious fraud charges if the case goes to trial. For the first-degree felonies to stick, Mr Paxton must be shown to have “knowingly” misled or misrepresented his position to investors, which leaves plenty of room for argument. The lesser charge, of not registering with the securities board, may actually be a harder one to defend against, as there is no question of context for determining guilt. For that, Mr Paxton has himself partially to blame: as a state representative, he voted to make such unsanctioned solicitations a felony, punishable by up to ten years in prison.

Help from the governor’s office looks unlikely. The Abbott administration has made too much of its priorities over ethics reform to taint itself with this battle. Democrats have been calling for Mr Paxton's resignation. Regardless of what happens next, they seem to have found reason to crow.