Texas AG Ken Paxton to File Criminal Doxing Charges Against House Impeachment Managers

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

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is planning to file criminal charges against 12 Texas House lawmakers who led his recent impeachment trial over claims that they doxed him by publicly releasing documents containing his home address.

In a statement provided to various media outlets, Mr. Paxton confirmed his intention to file criminal complaints in each of the House impeachment manager’s home counties for violating a recently passed doxing law that makes it illegal to release personal information with an intent to harm an individual.

“My family and I receive multiple threats of violence,“ said Mr. Paxton. ”The legislature passed an anti-doxing law to stop the far left from using intimidation tactics like leaking or releasing personal information that would allow nefarious individuals to do harm to elected officials. ... I’m imploring their local prosecutors in each individual district to investigate the criminal offenses that have been committed.”

Mr. Paxton will pursue the charges under Texas Statute 42.074, codified into law in September, that states that “a person commits an offense if the person posts on a publicly accessible website the residence address or telephone number of an individual with the intent to cause harm or a threat of harm to the individual or a member of the individual’s family or household.”

Those found guilty of violating the statute can result in a Class B misdemeanor charge.

The move by Mr. Paxton comes mere weeks after he was acquitted in his impeachment trial, in which he was accused of engaging in corruption and abuse of office.

Home Address Publicized

Following his acquittal on all 16 charges against him, House impeachment managers released a further collection of documents that were not presented during the trial because of time limitations and procedural decisions.

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The documents showed emails between Mr. Paxton’s contractor and Nate Paul, the campaign donor the House impeachment managers claimed had bribed Mr. Paxton by agreeing to pay for home renovations. They also included photos of the property and his personal address, although this was later redacted.

House attorney Rusty Hardin, who unsuccessfully led Mr. Paxton’s prosecution, told The Texas Tribune that the documents were “simply a repeat of public information to anyone that wants to look into it,” and pledged to counter Mr. Paxton’s charges by filing a criminal complaint against him for making a false police report.

“This is the exact kind of bullying, uninformed vengeful act that we predicted if the attorney general was not impeached,” Mr. Hardin said. “He’s trying to misuse the criminal justice system to cower and punish people who sought to impeach him under the law. It’s just one more outrageous, vengeful act by a man who has no business being attorney general.”

Throughout his impeachment, Mr. Paxton had repeatedly denounced the process as a “politically motivated sham” led by Democrats and Republican opponents of former President Donald Trump aimed at supporting President Joe Biden’s agenda.

“The weaponization of the impeachment process to settle political differences is not only wrong, it is immoral and corrupt,” he said in a statement following his acquittal. “Now that this shameful process is over, my work to defend our constitutional rights will resume.”

A spokesperson for Mr. Paxton’s office did not respond to a request for comment before press time.