The State Bar of Texas has asked a court to punish Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, asserting he committed misconduct when he filed a lawsuit that asked the U.S. Supreme Court to declare the 2020 election in four other states unconstitutional.
Allegations in the suit “were not supported by any charge, indictment, judicial finding, and/or credible or admissible evidence,” the bar’s Commission for Lawyer Discipline said in a disciplinary petition in Collin County lodged on May 25.
The panel also said that Paxton’s claim of having uncovered “substantial evidence … that raises serious doubts as to the integrity of the election process in defendant states” was a misrepresentation.
The suit caused the defendant states—Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin—to expend time, money, and resources to respond, the bar said.
It accused Paxton, a Republican, of violating the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, which states that a lawyer “shall not engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.” The court should find Paxton committed misconduct, and impose “an appropriate sanction,” the bar said.
That could potentially get Paxton disbarred, though a range of lesser penalties are also among the court’s options.
Paxton’s office and campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
Paxton said earlier this month that he learned the bar planned to sue him.
He said that he stands by the election suit, which he noted was backed by 23 states and over 100 members of Congress.
“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,” Paxon said. “Texas Bar: I'll see you and the leftists that control you in court.”
The disciplinary petition came on the same day that Paxton, who became the attorney general of Texas in 2015, won a Republican primary runoff against Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush.
Rochelle Garza, a former American Civil Liberties Union attorney, won the runoff for the Democrat nomination.
Garza on Wednesday called Paxton “corrupt” and “indicted,” referring to how Paxton was indicted in 2015 on securities fraud charges involving an investment scheme from a startup called Servergy.
Paxton has still not gone to trial in the case. He has said he is not guilty.
