Tag: Ken Paxton

State AGs Sue Three of the World’s Biggest Asset Managers for Allegedly Violating Antitrust Laws

Just the News
Ken Paxton

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is leading 10 other GOP state attorneys general in a lawsuit against BlackRock, State Street Corporation and Vanguard Group, three of the largest asset managers worldwide, for allegedly violating antitrust laws.

The firms allegedly conspired to use anticompetitive trade practices to artificially constrict the coal market, according to Paxton’s office. They acquired substantial stockholdings in all significant, publicly held coal producers in the U.S., allowing them to have the power to control coal company policies. These asset managers pushed for reduced coal output by more than half by 2030.

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Pro-Life States Claim Feds Are Starving Them by Usurping Congress, Ask Supreme Court to Intervene

Just the News
Xavier Becerra

As the second Trump administration prepares to commandeer the regulatory apparatus, blue states may be hoping the Supreme Court strikes down Biden administration demands on red states to protect them from the same treatment under President Trump.

More than 20 states, nearly as many federal lawmakers and dozens of conservative, pro-life and religious groups asked SCOTUS to overturn a ruling that refused to block the Department of Health and Human Services from cutting off Oklahoma’s Title X family planning funds for not giving women information about abortion.

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Texas Sues Administration for Not Verifying Voter Registration Citizenship Info

The Center Square
Vote Here Sign

Following Florida, Texas sued the Biden-Harris administration Tuesday after requesting citizenship status information about registered voters in Texas, and not receiving it from federal agencies as required by law.

Last week, a coalition of attorneys general, including from Florida and Texas, called on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to provide the requested information. They made the requests as multiple states removed thousands of noncitizens from their voter rolls. After not receiving the information, Florida sued last week. Other states in the coalition are also expected to sue.

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Texas AG Ken Paxton Calls on FCC to ‘Immediately’ Tighten Campaign Finance Rules Following ActBlue Investigation

American Greatness
Ken Paxton

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced Monday that he has petitioned the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) to take immediate action to “close fundraising loopholes that jeopardize American election integrity” following his investigation into the Democrat fundraising platform ActBlue.

In a press release, Paxton said that suspicious actors appear to be using ActBlue “to make a large number of straw political donations.”

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16 AGs Call on DHS to Verify Citizenship Information of Registered Voters

The Center Square
Vote Here Sign

Sixteen attorneys general, led by Ohio AG Dave Yost, called on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to provide voter registration information to states, particularly when it relates to citizenship status.

The AGs “raise grave concerns that by failing to work with States to verify voter registration information, your office has failed to discharge its duty ahead of a national election,” the letter to Mayorkas states.

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House Committee Calls on Five States to Probe ‘Potential Criminal Activity’ Involving ActBlue Donations

Daily Caller News Foundation

Republican Wisconsin Rep. Bryan Steil on Wednesday called on five states to launch probes into ActBlue, a well-known Democratic fundraising platform, over ‘potential criminal activity.’ Steil, chairman of the House Administration Committee, sent five letters addressed to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. The letters to the attorneys general requested that they probe into ActBlue donations in their respective states based on findings from a committee investigation alleging the organization illegally used people’s identities to channel funds to campaigns.

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Texas Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on Texas Bar’s Lawfare Against Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Top Deputy over 2020 Election Lawsuit

Rachel Alexander
Texas A.G. Ken Paxton and Fist Asst A.G. Brent Webster

The Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Thursday appealing the State Bar of Texas’s discipline of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s top deputy for bringing the election lawsuit Texas v. Pennsylvania with Paxton over the election irregularities in four states in 2020, which was joined by 21 other states. The bar’s Commission for Lawyer Discipline filed lawsuits against Paxton and First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster in 2022 asking for sanctions over allegedly violating several broad, vague ethical rules increasingly used to target conservative attorneys. 

The bar claimed that Paxton and Webster violated the ethical rule against making “false statements of material fact or law to a tribunal” when they alleged there were unregistered voters and other types of illegal votes, and that tabulators from Dominion Voting Systems switched votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. They were also accused of violating an ethical rule that prohibits conduct “involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation” and a third rule that prohibits bringing frivolous claims.

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Texas Files Lawsuit over Rule Pushing Businesses to Adopt ‘Transgender’ Policies

Daily Caller News Foundation
Ken Paxton

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Biden administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over an allegedly “unlawful” April policy rewrite that changed the definition of discrimination to include “gender identity.”

The EEOC updated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require both state and private employers to accommodate transgender employees by allowing men in women’s spaces, forcing the use of  “preferred pronouns” and ending sex-specific dress codes. Paxton and the Heritage Foundation are challenging the rewrite, arguing that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act and does not have sufficient standing as the original wording prohibits sex-based discrimination but does not mandate special accommodations for the sexes, according to the lawsuit.

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‘Democratic Superlawyer’ Marc Elias Files Complaint Against Kari Lake’s Attorney, Discusses Targeting Conservative Election Attorneys

Rachel Alexander
Marc Elias

Marc Elias, the controversial election fraud denying progressive election attorney who intervenes in election lawsuits and files bar complaints against conservative election attorneys, filed complaints with attorney regulation in Maryland and Washington D.C. earlier this month against Kari Lake’s attorney Kurt Olsen. Elias, who has been nicknamed a “Democratic superlawyer,” also released a video discussing successes in targeting conservative election attorneys.

Elias’s Democracy Docket stated in a press release on July 12 that Olsen “spread election lies while representing Election Deniers, including Kari Lake, in frivolous election lawsuits.” Gillian Feiner, Senior Counsel at the States United Democracy Center, said in the press release, “Kurt Olsen has abused his law license to spread lies about our elections in the courtroom time and time again, and his pattern of unethical conduct shows he’s not going to stop.”

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Guatemalan Authorities Investigate Biden-Linked NGO Suspected of Child-Trafficking Crimes

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Guatemala

A Biden-linked Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that has been active on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border is being investigated in Guatemala for child trafficking.

Guatemalan authorities raided the offices of Save the Children on April 25, citing complaints of sexual abuse of Guatemalan children in Texas shelters. The raid was reportedly carried out by officers from the Special Public Prosecutor Against Impunity and the Civil Police.

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Judge Allows Biden Admin Program That Lets in 30,000 Asylum-Seekers a Month

Just the News

A federal judge on Friday dismissed a challenge from 21 states against a Biden administration program that allows 30,000 asylum-seekers into the U.S. from four countries each month. 

U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton ruled that Texas and 20 other Republican-led states didn’t have legal standing in the lawsuit because they didn’t demonstrate suffered financial harm from the federal program, the Associated Press reported. The program lets a total of up to 30,000 asylum-seekers enter the U.S. each month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. 

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Former Arizona AG: States Have Constitutional Right to Self-Defense

The Center Square
Brnovich State Rights

Former Republican Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich again on Tuesday argued the constitutional authority given to states for self-defense.

Brnovich testified at a U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing addressing the issue after being the first and only state attorney general to issue a formal legal opinion that defines an invasion and lays out the constitutional authority of states’ self-defense.

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Texas AG Ken Paxton Sues Pfizer for Misrepresenting Efficacy of the COVID-19 Jabs and Conspiring to Censor Public Discourse

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AG Ken Paxton

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that he is suing Pfizer for “unlawfully misrepresenting” Covid-19 vaccine efficacy and conspiring to censor public discourse.

“Pfizer engaged in false, deceptive, and misleading acts and practices by making unsupported claims regarding the company’s COVID-19 vaccine in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act,” Paxton said in a press release.

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Texas AG Launches Fraud Investigation into Media Matters

Admin

On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-Texas) announced that the state would be launching a fraud probe into the far-left publication Media Matters.

As reported by the Daily Caller, the probe comes after Media Matters released a report on Thursday accusing the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, of putting anti-Semitic content next to advertisements. Although subsequent studies have proven this to be mostly false, multiple major corporations, including Apple, Disney, and IBM, have announced their plans to boycott advertising on the site.

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Texas Attorney General Sues Biden Administration for Cutting Razor Wire at Southern Border

Admin

On Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-Texas) filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration over federal agents cutting away razor wire barriers that had been set up along the southern border by the state government.

As Fox News reports, Paxton’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, targets the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), accusing the federal agencies of interfering with state efforts to secure the border by actively cutting away the razor wire barriers that had been set up by the state of Texas.

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Pro-Life Law Firm Urges Federal Appeals Court to Uphold Right of Unborn Children to Emergency Medical Care

Susan Berry, PhD

A leading national pro-life law firm has filed an amicus brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing the Biden administration’s “guidance” to hospitals that “reminds” them of their “obligation” to provide abortions in states where the procedure is illegal is an incorrect interpretation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).

In a press statement Friday, Life Legal explained that after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, “Democrats were determined to find ways to prevent pro-life states from protecting babies in the womb.”

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Texas AG Sues Biden Admin over HHS Guidance Forcing Pharmacies to Carry Abortion Pills

Admin

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tuesday over the agency’s guidance mandating pharmacies provide abortion pills regardless of state law.

The HHS issued the guidance in July 2022, citing federal anti-discrimination law and threatening to pull Medicaid and Medicare funds from pharmacies that do not comply. The lawsuit argues that the guidance contradicts the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which found no constitutional right to an abortion and kicked the ability to pass regulations back to the state level.

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Texas Sues Biden Admin over Policy Loosening Restrictions on Illegal Immigrants Seeking Welfare Benefits

Admin

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the Biden administration over its changes to a policy that will allow illegal immigrants to more easily obtain welfare benefits.

President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) implemented changes to the rule Dec. 23 to no longer consider certain nutrition, health and housing benefits when deciding whether a noncitizen can legally stay in the country, according to DHS. Paxton is requesting not just action in a Texas court, but is also asking that the Supreme Court intervene, he announced Thursday.

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North Carolina Congressman Introduces Bill to Restart Building Border Wall

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A North Carolina congressman has introduced a bill to require the federal government to restart rebuilding the border wall, which was halted by President Joe Biden.

U.S. Rep. Ted Budd, R-NC, introduced the Build the Wall Now Act, which removes all legal impediments to building the border wall. Among other things, it unlocks an additional $2.1 billion that was appropriated in fiscal years 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 that weren’t spent.

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Launches Human Trafficking Investigation Into TikTok

Admin

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday he is launching an investigation into Chinese social media app TikTok over potential aiding of human trafficking and child privacy violations.

“Chinese-owned company TikTok may be complicit in child exploitation, sex trafficking, human trafficking, drug smuggling and other unimaginable horrors,” Paxton said in a statement Friday. “I will get to the bottom of these concerns and make sure Big Tech doesn’t interfere with the safety and security of Texans.”

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Attorney General Paxton: Reports Suggesting Texas’ Operation Lone Star Is Unconstitutional Is ‘Fake News’

The Center Square

Multiple news reports suggesting that a Travis County judge ruled that Texas’ Operation Lone Star is unconstitutional is “fake news,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Office says.

To suggest the state’s border security measures are unconstitutional “is absolutely ludicrous and wrong,” Paxton told The Center Square.

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Florida Joins Multi-State Lawsuit Against Biden Admin’s ‘Illegal’ Immigration Program

The Center Square

Florida joined a multi-state coalition led by Texas suing the Biden administration for reinstating an Obama-era program that allows illegal immigrants to enter and remain in the U.S., bypassing laws established by Congress.

In addition to Texas and Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Alaska joined the lawsuit over the Biden administration’s reinstating a 2014-era Central America Minors (CAM) Program that was halted by the Trump administration in 2017.

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Eight States Sue Biden Administration over Reinstated Obama-Era Immigration Policy

The Center Square

Eight states are suing the Biden administration claiming it is abusing an Obama-era immigration program that allows minors who entered the U.S. illegally to seek to bring in family members from their home countries.

The lawsuit alleges President Joe Biden challenging the Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee and Parole Program was filed by the state of Texas and includes as plaintiffs the states of Arkansas, Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Montana and Oklahoma.

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Paxton, Schmitt Ask Court to Require Biden Administration to Finish Border Wall

The Center Square

As Texas and Missouri attorneys general ask a federal court to require the Biden administration to immediately resume building the border wall with funds allocated by Congress, the Department of Homeland Security announced it was using the funds on environmental projects instead.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt sued the administration in October. In November, they filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to require it to resume building the border wall using funds already appropriated by Congress to do so.

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Judge Temporarily Blocks Biden Vaccine Mandate for Private Firms After Texas Sues

Admin

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday revealed that a federal court had issued a temporary block against the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate against private companies after the state brought suit against it.

Paxton revealed the development on his Twitter accounts. “Yesterday, I sued the Biden Admin over its unlawful OSHA vax mandate,” he wrote. “WE WON. Just this morning, citing ‘grave statutory and constitutional issues,’ the 5th Circuit stayed the mandate.

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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Other GOP Governors to Gather at Border to Pressure Biden on Illegal Immigration

The Center Square

Republican Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona are hosting nine governors in Mission, Texas, Wednesday to denounce President Joe Biden’s policies leading to a surge in illegal immigration at the southern border.

“Texas and Arizona have stepped up to secure the border in the federal government’s absence, and now the Emergency Management Assistance Compact gives your state a chance to stand strong with us,” Ducey and Abbott said in a joint statement this summer. Both governors issued disaster and emergency declarations in their states earlier this year, citing increased crime and financial strains on county governments and law enforcement because of the surge in illegal immigration due to Biden’s policies.

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Pima County Republican Chair Calls for Arrest of Officials Mandating Vaccine or Masks

Rachel Alexander
Shelley Kais

The chairman of the Pima County Republican Party is calling for the arrest of local officials who mandate the COVID-19 vaccine or masks. In that lower part of the state, the City of Tucson requires vaccinations and the Marana School District requires masks. 

Shelley Kais told the Arizona Daily Independent, “On September 29, any school board member, city councilman, or supervisor who requires masks or vaccines mandates and passports should be arrested ” She went on, “The power grab by our elected officials to play this ‘game of chicken’ is nothing more than political and follows neither science nor good public policy. We will continue to fight for our first responders, our teachers, and the children in Pima County.” 

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Arizona’s Gov. Doug Ducey and Attorney General Mark Brnovich Join SCOTUS Suit to Overturn Roe v. Wade

Rachel Alexander

Both Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich joined separate amicus curiae briefs with other governors and attorneys general in an abortion case out of Missouri that would gut Roe v. Wade by banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Ducey joined 11 other governors led by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to demand that the Supreme Court uphold the state law and undo Roe v. Wade. Brnovich signed on with 23 other attorneys general led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to ask that the court overrule Roe v. Wade because it is “erroneous, inconsistent, uneven, and unreliable.”

Ducey said in a statement, “The Constitution preserves the rights of the states by specifically enumerating the authority granted to the federal government. Unfortunately, almost 50 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to ignore the Constitution and created policy which has led to the over-politicization of this issue for decades.” 

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Texas Attorney General Sues the City of Austin over Mask Mandate

Admin

Ken Paxton (R-Texas), the Attorney General of Texas, has filed a lawsuit against the state’s capital city of Austin on Thursday after the city refused to rescind its mask mandate, as reported by The Hill.

The lawsuit names Mayor Steve Adler (D-Texas), Travis County Judge Andy Brown, and interim Medical Director Mark Escott. The suit comes after Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) announced on March 2nd that he would be officially and completely reopening the state of Texas via executive order, rescinding all mask mandates and allowing all businesses to reopen to 100 percent capacity.

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Texas Governor, Attorney General to Sue Biden over Immigration

The Center Square

Texas plans to sue the Biden administration over several executive orders recently issued, and immigration policy is front and center.

“A new crop of Texas-led lawsuits awaits Joe Biden’s White House,” Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted. “Texas will take action whenever the federal government encroaches on state’s rights, or interferes with constitutional rights, or private property rights or the right to earn a living.”

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Texas AG Launches Investigation into Big Tech’s ‘Biased Policies’ After Trump’s Twitter Ban

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced an investigation into the content moderation policies of multiple Silicon Valley based tech companies after President Trump was permanently banned from Twitter last week.

Paxton’s office demanded four big tech giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Amazon and Google provide information relating to their censoring of conservative speech as well as their termination of the popular conservative social media app Parler from their platforms.

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Commentary: Will This Texas Lawsuit Overturn the 2020 Election?

Admin

In a lawsuit filed Monday before the U.S. Supreme Court, the state of Texas accuses four states currently “won” by Joe Biden of using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to violate the Electors Clause and the 14th Amendment. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin for usurping the sole authority of state legislatures to create election law and charges that millions of absentee ballots were unlawfully processed by local election officials.

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