The Supreme Court of Texas in Austin, Texas, US, on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. Each of the five Texas business court divisions already has two judges appointed by Abbott, a prospect that all but guarantees the first jurists will reflect his business-frie
AUSTIN, Texas – The State Bar of Texas is dropping its challenge that Attorney General Ken Paxton violated the state’s rules of professional conduct when he sued over the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The move comes less than a month after the Texas Supreme Court dismissed similar claims against Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster.
In a filing to the court Thursday, the Commission for Lawyer Discipline filed a motion to dismiss the case against Paxton citing it argued the same separation of powers issues that the earlier case against Webster raised.
The backstory:
The Commission brought suit against Paxton in response to Paxton filing a lawsuit against Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin over election fraud in the 2020 election.
Paxton and the state of Texas sought to prevent those states from deciding on their appointments to the Electoral College.
The Commission argued Paxton made dishonest remarks to the U.S. Supreme Court by saying votes from unregistered voters were counted in those states, some votes were switched by a glitch with voting machines, the states’ election statutes were “unconstitutionally” changed and that “illegal votes” affected the outcome of the election.
Through those arguments, the Commission said Paxton had violated the rules of conduct that govern dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.
Paxton had argued that a disciplinary case could not be raised against him in his official capacity as attorney general. The Fifth District Court of Appeals, however, said the commission was suing Paxton for misconduct as an individual and not through his role of attorney general, mimicking the decision by the Eighth Circuit in the Webster case.
Paxton filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court.
After the Texas Supreme Court dismissed the claims against Webster, the commission filed to have its claim against Paxton dismissed. The case a dismissed on the grounds the the Fifth Circuit’s judgment that defined that case as against Paxton as an individual be vacated.
What they’re saying:
Paxton has long held that the cases against him and Webster were politically motivated.
“I am pleased to announce that the Texas State Bar has finally ended its baseless and politically motivated attempt to stop me for doing my duty to defend election integrity,” Paxton said in a statement. “The State Bar’s meritless case was not about justice or the rule of law but about weaponizing the legal process to attack me for boldly defending the rights of Texas. For four years, this unfounded lawfare wasted valuable time and resources, but these unethical tactics will never stop me from fighting to uphold the rule of law, protect our elections, and defend the values that Texans hold dear.”
The Source: Information in this article comes from the Texas Supreme Court, Attorney General Ken Paxton and previous FOX reporting.
