A failed legal challenge led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attempted to overturn the 2020 election results by invalidating results from four battleground states won by President Biden. Here’s what we’ve uncovered so far about Paxton’s lawsuit.
Paxton’s suit was thrown out by the Supreme Court within days, but not before it drew support from at least 125 Republican members of the House of Representatives, Trump himself, and the attorneys general of 17 other states.
axios.com/house-republic…
We filed open records requests in Texas and several other states that joined the suit to uncover more information about this authoritarian effort to thwart democracy.
americanoversight.org/investigation/…
Lawyers in the Florida Attorney General’s office called the lawsuit “bats--t insane” and “weird," records we obtained show.
On Dec. 8, Senior Deputy SG Christopher Baum wrote, “Bats–t insane, which is why Kyle [Texas’ solicitor general] is not on it.”
americanoversight.org/lawyers-in-flo…
Deputy AG James Percival asked, “What’s the theory for how one state has standing to allege Bush v. Gore violations against another state[?]”
“Because,” Baum replied.
Documents we previously obtained, reported on by @TPM, show South Carolina’s attorney general strategized with conservative lawyers on Paxton’s lawsuit.
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/sc-ag-str…
The records indicate South Carolina AG Alan Wilson was in touch with Mark Martin, a former North Carolina chief justice and informal adviser to Donald Trump. Martin was reportedly part of the team that planned the lawsuit to overturn the election.
nytimes.com/2021/01/31/us/…
The documents also include communications between Wilson and Don Brown, an author and attorney who claimed to be working with pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell and Martin.
americanoversight.org/document/south…
On Dec. 3, Wilson told an attorney that he was having “constant conversions” with other attorney general offices and said he had received an “updated brief.” This is likely a reference to the Texas lawsuit. SC was one of 17 states to sign on to an amicus brief in support.
Other records we previously uncovered, also reported on by @TPM, show a draft of the lawsuit was circulated to the Louisiana AG’s office before it was filed.
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/louisiana…
The version sent to the Louisiana AG’s office is very similar to the one filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on December 8, 2020.
But this version was intended to be filed by Louisiana and would sue over the results in 6 states instead of 4.
americanoversight.org/document/louis…
We also obtained communications between the attorney general’s office and lawyers who were connected to former President Donald Trump, including Kris Kobach.
In the emails, Kobach pressured Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office about the potential lawsuit.
This lawsuit seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election was part of the “Big Lie” that the election was stolen through widespread voter fraud. It wasn’t — and we’re investigating those pushing this conspiracy theory. Learn more here:
americanoversight.org/investigation/…
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