Paxton plans to file criminal complaints against impeachment foes

Members of the Texas House leadership who led the impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton published a trove of documents last week, characterizing it as additional evidence that never surfaced during the trial in the Texas Senate that led to Paxton’s full acquittal.

However, the documents — collected as part of the House’s initial investigation into Paxton — were not redacted, leading to protected personal information, the address of Ken and Sen. Angela Paxton’s Austin home, being released. Paxton is now filing criminal complaints regarding the incident.

Not all of the lawmakers who were part of the House Board of Managers that led the impeachment effort were aware of the document dump, and some were quick to say they disapproved of the documents being released unredacted.

“Hell no I didn't know and hell yes I'm frustrated,” Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano), one of the managers, reportedly said.

In a press statement released Monday, Paxton noted that he and his family have received “multiple threats of violence” and pointed to a recently enacted state law intended to prevent the release of personal information to cause harm to others.

House Bill (HB) 611 by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R-Southlake), which became effective law on September 1, created a misdemeanor offense for “doxing” or disclosing someone’s address or phone number with the intent to harm them.

“The impeachment managers clearly have a desire to threaten me with harm when they released this information last week,” Paxton stated, adding that he is asking the prosecutors to investigate the document dump as illegal doxing.

He added that he is filing criminal complaints with the local prosecutor in the home jurisdiction of each of the House managers.

Paxton was acquitted on 16 articles of impeachment in the Senate on September 16, and the four remaining impeachment charges brought by the House were dismissed after being held in abeyance during the trial. Despite the trial being over for weeks, the political fight between Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and House leadership has continued to boil over.

Recently, Paxton issued endorsements for primary challengers of the House leadership, most notably David Covey, who is challenging Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont), and Wesley Virdell, who is challenging Rep. Andrew Murr (R-Junction).