Watchdog group targets Texas AG Ken Paxton over his bid to overturn the presidential election

A government watchdog group has targeted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as an "enemy of progress," saying he's one of 13 ultra-conservative state attorneys general using their power to derail the efforts of the Biden administration.

In a report released Thursday, Washington, D.C.-based Accountable.US identified Paxton as one of the Republican AGs creating a "unified roadblock standing in the way of policies meant to save our environment and end inhumane immigration policies."

“Instead of fighting for their best interests, Attorney General Paxton is spending Texans’ taxpayer dollars on frivolous lawsuits against the Biden administration on behalf of his special interest donors,” Accountable.US President Kyle Herrig said in a written statement.

The report cites Paxton's failed suit asking the U.S. Supreme Court overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election as an effort to undermine the democratic process. It also calls him out for participating in Donald Trump's January 6 “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the deadly Capitol insurrection.

Paxton also came under fire from the group for his repeated anti-immigration lawsuits and his legal woes, which include a 2015 felony securities fraud indictment that's still playing out in court and an FBI probe into whistleblower allegations that he abused his position on behalf of a wealthy donor.

"Paxton should consider focusing on his own legal troubles and get out of the Biden administration’s way rather than spending taxpayer-funded resources obstructing much-needed relief for millions of Texas families,” Herrig said.

Paxton’s legal problems are likely to be front and center as he faces reelection in 2022. He already faces primary challenges from Land Commissioner George P. Bush and Eva Guzman, a former justice on the Texas Supreme Court.

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