AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Friday the state bar plans to sue him for filing a lawsuit that challenged President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
The State Bar of Texas has reportedly been investigating a complaint that accused Paxton of ethical misconduct for filing a “frivolous” lawsuit at the U.S. Supreme Court that sought to invalidate the results in four key battleground states. The bar would not say Friday whether any disciplinary action against Paxton is pending.
Paxton said he stands by his work and accused the bar of a “witch hunt” in the lead-up to the May 24 runoff election. Paxton, a two-term Republican armed with former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, is facing off against GOP challenger George P. Bush.
“I am certain that the Bar will not only lose, but be fully exposed for what they are: a liberal activist group masquerading as a neutral professional association,” Paxton said in a statement posted to Twitter Friday morning.
The bar’s president, Sylvia Borunda, said the system is “designed to ensure fairness to all parties.”
“Partisan political considerations play no role in determining whether to pursue a grievance or how that grievance proceeds through the system. Any claims to the contrary are untrue,” she said in a written statement.
An attempt by the bar to sanction the state’s top attorney would add to Paxton’s ongoing legal troubles. He’s been under indictment for securities fraud since 2015 and more recently, the FBI launched an investigation into claims he abused the office. Paxton broadly denies wrongdoing in each case.
The bar’s planned lawsuit also targets a top Paxton deputy, he said.
Bar investigations are confidential. But the lawyers who submitted the complaint over Paxton’s 2020 election lawsuit have publicly confirmed a probe is underway. The signers include a national group called Lawyers Defending American Democracy and 16 attorneys from Texas, including four former presidents of the state bar. Representatives for the group did not immediately return a request for comment.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Paxton’s lawsuit days after it was filed in December 2020, ruling that Texas lacked standing to challenge election procedures in other states.
Paxton, who has has been licensed to practice law in Texas since 1991, is not the only prominent attorney in the state bar’s cross-hairs. The organization recently filed a disciplinary lawsuit against former Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell, accusing her professional misconduct for filing a series of “frivolous” lawsuits challenging the 2020 election. Powell has said looks forward to presenting evidence to clear her name.
Also Friday, Paxton’s office launched an investigation into the Texas Bar Foundation, accusing the group of giving money to “organizations that support, fund, and encourage illegal immigration.”
In a statement, the bar’s executive director, Trey Apffel, said that while he does not know what donations are at issue, he is “confident that the foundation’s activities are in line with its mission of enhancing the rule of law and the system of justice in Texas.”
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