Ken Paxton to file criminal doxing complaints against 12 House impeachment managers
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday morning he intends to file criminal complaints against the 12 state representatives who led his impeachment trial. He claims they threatened him by publishing his personal information, including his home address, in a document release last week and broke a new state law.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday morning he intends to file criminal complaints against the 12 state representatives who led his impeachment trial. He claims they threatened him by publishing his personal information, including his home address, in a document release last week and broke a new state law.
"The impeachment managers clearly have a desire to threaten me with harm when they released this information last week," Paxton said in a statement. "I’m imploring their local prosecutors in each individual district to investigate the criminal offenses that have been committed."
Paxton said he will file the complaints in each of the managers' eight home counties. KXAN reached out Monday morning to all 12 state representatives for comment and will update this story once any responses are shared.
Paxton said the lawmakers violated House Bill 611, which created a new criminal offense for doxing when it passed the legislature earlier this year. The law states, "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." According to its language, violating this law could result in a Class B misdemeanor charge.
The Texas Senate acquitted Paxton last month on all 16 articles of impeachment approved by the House of Representatives. The House impeachment managers released piles of evidence last week, including many items deemed inadmissible during the 10-day impeachment trial. The hundreds of pages of documents provide more information about the Paxtons’ home renovations central to one of the impeachment articles, as well as a behind-the-scenes transcript that details why Laura Olson — the woman Paxton is accused of having an extramarital affair with — ultimately didn’t testify after being called to the witness stand.