Paxton's deposition from 12 years ago surfaced, in which he said, "The donor gave me stocks to please God."

The media obtained a case deposition transcript, one of the early episodes in Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton's decade-long controversies: allegations of corruption and other legal violations recurred repeatedly, yet never resulted in a final conviction. It was December 2014, and Paxton was a rising Republican star who had just been elected Texas attorney general. But out of public view, he was embroiled in a federal fraud investigation. According to the transcript, Paxton had originally intended to invest $100,000 in Servergy and met Mr. Mapp at this store to deliver the check. Paxton said Mapp refused the money and instead gave him 100,000 shares of company stock. Paxton attributed Mapp's generosity to his religious faith.