Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants the state's highest civil court to overturn state bar sanctions made against him in the wake of his failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
The state bar sued to punish Paxton in 2022 for asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block President Joe Biden's 2020 election win based on what it said were false claims of fraud. The Fifth Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 in April to uphold the punishment.
In a press release Tuesday, Paxton's office said the ruling was "politically motivated lawfare" and called the state bar's sanction a retaliatory response to his good-faith concerns about the presidential election after Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden.
"The State Bar’s attempt to sanction the Attorney General is an unconstitutional violation of the Texas Constitution’s Separation of Powers Clause and violates his sovereign immunity," Paxton's office wrote in a press release Tuesday. "Nevertheless, over an erudite dissent, a sharply divided court of appeals permitted the Bar’s lawsuit to go forward."
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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