Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Fled While Being Served With Subpoena, Affidavit Claims

Paxton said he was concerned for his safety

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in Washington on May 20, 2019. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appears to have fled his home to avoid being served with a subpoena on Sept. 26, according to an affidavit filed in federal court, but the attorney general says he left his home to avoid a stranger loitering outside.

The affidavit, obtained by The Texas Tribune, was filed by Ernesto Martin Herrera, a process server, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

According to the affidavit (pdf), Herrera was attempting to serve Paxton with a subpoena to appear before a federal court hearing on Tuesday in a lawsuit from a number of nonprofit organizations trying to block potential criminal charges for those who help Texan women access abortions out of state.

The nonprofits listed as plaintiffs in that lawsuit (pdf) are: Fund Texas Choice, The North Texas Equal Access Fund, The Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity, Frontera Fund, The Afiya Center, West Fund, Jane’s Due Process, Clinic Access Support Network, and Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi.

Herrera states in the affidavit that he arrived at Paxton’s home at 8:28 a.m. and parked his vehicle on the street in front of the residence where he could “see a silhouette of a man walking in the living room area.” He then exited his vehicle and went to knock on Paxton’s front door.

“The door had clear glass in it and I could clearly see inside the house. A female got up from the couch and started walking to the door,” Herrera said, referring to Paxton’s wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton.

Herrera said he then saw Paxton “enter the room behind” his wife.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a border town hall in Brackettville, Texas, on Oct. 11, 2021. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

‘Paxton Ignored Me’

“When he saw me, he turned around and went back to where he came from. I recognized him as Ken Paxton from the many pictures available on the internet. The female opened the door and I explained to her that I was trying to deliver important legal documents to Mr. Paxton,” Herrera continued.

“She went back towards the area where Mr. Paxton had gone and she came back telling me that he was on the phone. I offered to wait for him to be off the phone. She said that he was in a hurry to leave. I left my business card with her. She identified herself as Angela.”

Herrera states that he went back to his vehicle to wait and that at approximately 9:20 a.m., he saw a black Chevrolet Tahoe pull into the driveway at the home and that the driver stayed inside the car.

“At approximately 9:40 a.m. the garage door opened up and I saw Mr. Paxton exiting the garage,” he states. “I walked up the driveway approaching Mr. Paxton and called him by his name. As soon as he saw me and heard me call his name out, he turned around and RAN back inside the house through the same door in the garage,” Herrera wrote in the sworn affidavit.

Herrera states that at approximately 9:47 a.m., Angela Paxton came out of the house, got inside the Chevrolet truck in the driveway, started it, and opened the rear door behind the driver’s side.

“A few minutes later I saw Mr. Paxton RAN from the door inside the garage towards the rear door behind the driver’s side. I approached the truck, and loudly called him by his name, and stated that I had court documents for him. Mr. Paxton ignored me and kept heading for the truck,” Herrera stated.

After determining that Paxton was not going to take the documents from his hand, Herrera states that he told the attorney general he was being served with legal documents and that he would leave them on the ground where Paxton could pick them up.

“I then placed the documents on the ground beside the truck. Service was completed at 9:50 a.m.,” he wrote, adding that Paxton then got in the truck, leaving the documents on the ground, and left.

Pro-life demonstrators march during a "Right to Life" rally in Dallas on Jan. 15, 2022. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Paxton Responds

Responding to the reports of the affidavit, Paxton said in a Sept. 27 statement on Twitter that he had left his home to avoid a stranger who was outside his house, and that “conservatives have faced threats to their safety” that have not been covered in the media.

“It’s clear that the media wants to drum up another controversy involving my work as Attorney General, so they’re attacking me for having the audacity to avoid a stranger lingering outside my home and showing concern about the safety and well-being of my family,” he wrote.

The Epoch Times has contacted Ken Paxton’s and Angela Paxton’s offices for comment.

Texas passed a law in 2021 that outlawed abortions in the state, with few exceptions, and made it a second-degree felony to knowingly perform, induce, or attempt an abortion, according to the bill (pdf).

If the child dies as a result of the abortion attempt, the charge becomes a first-degree felony.

The law went into effect on Aug. 25, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

However, an exception is made if the person who is pregnant “has a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy” that places them at risk of death or “poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function.”