Texas Attorney General Under Investigation for Election Lawsuits

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is being investigated by the State Bar of Texas for his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election results. The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the Texas Bar will revisit whether Paxton violated standards of professional misconduct. Paxton has 30 days to respond to the complaint, after which the bar will start its investigation and decide whether to bring litigation. 

Paxton petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court in late 2020, asking it to overturn the election results of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin based on bogus allegations of fraud and unconstitutional actions of state legislatures. 17 other attorneys general and a slew of Republican legislators joined the suit, which ultimately aimed to block Joe Biden’s certification as the winner of the election. The Supreme Court declined to review the case, stating that Paxton had not justified Texas’s interest in the conduct of other states’ elections.

Paxton, who is up for re-election in 2022, is already under investigation by the FBI for allegedly using the power of the attorney general’s office to help a wealthy donor and faces separate felony securities fraud charges in an ongoing case.

Read key filings from Paxton’s decertification challenge here.