In your face, asshole.
Still a crook any way you look
Attorney General Ken Paxton must drop his lawsuit against ActBlue, the political donations platform primarily used by Democratic candidates, a Boston federal judge ruled Thursday in a decision that cited the Texas Republican’s “well-known history of filing retaliatory lawsuits.”
ActBlue sued Paxton in early May, alleging that the series of investigations and litigation he had initiated against the company was politically motivated.
District Judge Richard Gaylore Stearns agreed, alluding to the fact that Paxton resumed an investigation into ActBlue the day after Democratic state Rep. James Talarico announced he had raised $2.5 million within 24 hours of appearing on late night host Stephen Colbert’s show. Paxton and Talarico, at the time vying for their party’s respective U.S. Senate nominations, are now facing off in the November general election.
“The truth is plain and captured in Paxton’s own declarations: The lawsuit was filed in retaliation for (and in an attempt to suppress) ActBlue’s efforts to fund Talarico’s campaign,” Stearns wrote.
Paxton filed a lawsuit against ActBlue in late April, claiming the platform allows improper donations from people outside the United States and those who have already hit federal donor limits. His pursuit of ActBlue dates back to December 2023, when his office opened an investigation into the platform. The agency later sent a letter to the Federal Elections Commission claiming it had uncovered evidence that “bad actors can illegally interfere in American elections by disguising political donations” via ActBlue.
Under Thursday’s ruling, Paxton cannot continue to litigate its state court case against ActBlue, or bring any other related state lawsuits against the company.
The ruling comes after a Wednesday hearing of the U.S. House Administration Committee focused on “preventing fraudulent donations.” As Republicans on the panel probed ActBlue’s CEO, Democrats unsuccessfully tried to subpoena Paxton for ignoring their queries about similar allegations lodged against WinRed, the GOP’s equivalent platform. The motion to order Paxton before the panel failed on a party-line vote.
See here for more on the House Dems’ efforts to make Paxton explain himself. The story has background on the lawsuits, so read that as well. There’s not much to add here, Paxton doesn’t bother trying to hide his motives, he just looks for one of his concierge courtrooms and lets nature take its course. Good to know this time he couldn’t get away from it. We should always celebrate victories, and any time Ken Paxton loses, it’s a victory.
Only loosely related, we have some great news out of Arlington. Jason Shelton ran overtly as a progressive Democrat and won easily in an at large city council seat with over 62%.