Judge Appears Open to Blocking Paxton’s ActBlue Gift-Card Suit

June 4, 2026, 6:42 PM UTC

A federal judge hinted he saw a path to block Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) lawsuit against Democratic donation platform ActBlue as illegal retaliation for serving as a financial conduit for liberal causes.

At a hearing Thursday, US District Judge Richard Stearns pressed both sides about what weight he should give to comments Paxton made on podcasts and in fundraising emails boasting about suing ActBlue — which he called a “shadowy digital fundraising network” — under a Texas consumer protection law for allegedly accepting donations from cash gift cards.

Stearns, a Clinton appointee in the US District Court for ...

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