DALAS (AP) – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Friday that the U.S. Bar Association plans to prosecute him for his failed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election based on false allegations of fraud, creating another legal threat. because the struggling Republican is locked in a primary outflow.
Since last summer, the Texas state attorney’s office has been investigating complaints about Paxton’s request to the US Supreme Court to block President Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump. The group has not filed a public lawsuit against Paxton, but asked the Austin District Court on Friday to impose unspecified discipline on a member of its staff for alleged professional misconduct in the election process.
Paxton’s top deputy, Brent Webster, was “dishonest” and made “false statements” in a petition to the Supreme Court to annul the election, according to a lawsuit filed by the Williamson County Court. Webster did not respond immediately to a message asking for comment.
Paxton said he was behind his challenge in the “unconstitutional presidential election in 2020” as he blew up the bar and announced an investigation into a charity group linked to him.
“I am sure that the legal profession will not only lose, but will be fully exposed for what it is: a liberal activist group disguised as a neutral professional association,” Paxton said on Twitter.
The bar, a branch of the Texas Supreme Court, said in a statement that “party political considerations play no role” in his actions. State law forbids him from discussing investigations unless a public complaint is filed and a spokesman refuses to comment.
When filing a lawsuit against a lawyer, the bar may seek punishment ranging from a written warning to removal or dismissal. The process of imposing discipline is similar to a process and may involve both parties taking testimony and obtaining records by disclosure.
The lawsuit’s lawsuits against Paxton say his petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to cancel the 2020 election is frivolous and unethical. The Supreme Court dismissed the case, and Trump’s Justice Department found no evidence of fraud that could change the outcome of the election.
Paxton predicts a lawsuit against him in the last weeks of his primary runoff against Republican Commissioner George W. Bush.
In his two terms, Paxton drew an unusual number of primary challenges after eight of his top deputies told the FBI in 2020 that the attorney general had used his office to benefit a wealthy donor. They accused him of bribery, abuse of office and other crimes, which led to an ongoing federal investigation.
Paxton has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to a 2015 government securities fraud case. His lawyer, Philip Hilder, declined to comment.
Shortly after saying the bar was planning to sue him, Paxton’s office said it would investigate the Texas Bar Foundation for “possible assistance and assistance in the mass influx of illegal aliens.” The board of the charity group is appointed in part by the chairman of the bar.
In a one-page letter, the attorney general’s office said the foundation “knowingly made donations to organizations that encourage, participate in and fund illegal immigration on the Texas-Mexico border.” The letter does not specify the names of the subjects.
Alistair Dawson, who has been elected chairman of the Texas Foundation, said in a statement that she was “extremely disappointed” to learn about Paxton’s investigation, but would still cooperate.
“If AG Paxton had taken the time to come and talk to us instead of issuing a press release, I am confident that he would not have found any wrongdoing on the part of the foundation,” Dawson said.
Gary Ratner, a lawyer with the Lawyers Defending American Democracy who filed one of the complaints against Paxton, declined to comment. Kevin Moran, a Democratic activist in Galveston who brought in another, did not immediately respond to a phone call asking for comment.
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