The State Bar of Texas earlier this year filed a professional misconduct lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. At issue was Paxton’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
This week, a three-justice panel of the Texas Fifth Court of Appeals heard arguments over whether or not the State Bar overstepped its bounds in attempting to discipline the attorney general.
“Some lawyers essentially filed a state bar complaint against him and some other lawyers in his office, essentially accusing him of dishonesty, filing frivolous lawsuits and various other transgressions. That has basically been tied up in the courts about whether or not that is a sort of valid disciplinary action in the state bar,” said Matthew Watkins, managing editor for news and politics at the Texas Tribune. “Essentially, the goal here by the lawyers who brought this suit is to bring sanctions, maybe even have his license to practice in Texas removed.”
Paxton’s lawyers argued that the bar is “attempting to control the attorney general’s decision going forward about what types of lawsuits to file, and what kinds of legal theories to pursue.”
Hear more from Watkins about the week in Texas politics in the audio player above.
