Paxton’s Criminal Complaints on Impeachment Foes Face Long Odds

Criminal complaints Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has filed against House impeachment managers for releasing his home address are unlikely to lead to charges, multiple lawyers said.

Paxton threatened to file complaints against all 12 House impeachment managers in their home counties on Oct. 9, days after his Austin address showed up online in an exhibit dump. However, just two complaints have been confirmed as filed, and Paxton’s office didn’t respond to messages asking why he didn’t file more, nor did the GOP consulting firm he used to announce the threats. One prosecutor who has received a complaint has said he won’t pursue charges.

However, it will be hard to prove the managers meant harm when they released the address, three Texas criminal law attorneys said.

“Without evidence of some malicious intent, there is no crime,” said former felony prosecutor Beth Payan, now an Austin defense lawyer. “The fact that the House impeachment managers went back and redacted the information shows their lack of intent.”

Paxton filed a complaint in Cameron County against Rep. Erin Gámez (D), the district attorney’s office there confirmed. In an email dated Oct. 9, Paxton told DA Luis Saenz the managers made a “conscious choice” to make his address public. Paxton in his complaints cited the state’s new anti-doxing law that took effect Sept. 1. It makes it unlawful to post the residence, address, or telephone number of an individual “with the intent to cause harm or a threat of harm” to the person or a family member.

Saenz’s office doesn’t intend to file charges, an administrator in his office said.

Paxton also filed a complaint in Dallas County against Rep. Morgan Meyer (R) on Oct. 12. Five days later, District Attorney John Creuzot responded to Paxton’s email with the office’s complaint form and asked him to log his complaint there. Paxton never responded.

Several prosecutor offices that expected to receive a complaint said they haven’t heard from the attorney general since his threat.

Rep. Andrew Murr (R), who led the House’s impeachment team, said Paxton’s threats are “horse manure, and they are filling his boots full.” Murr, in a statement his office released after the threat, noted that Paxton’s address is widely available online, including through the local appraisal district and in other impeachment documents that had been accessible for months on the Senate’s website before Paxton raised an issue.

Paxton’s criminal threats ratchet up his fight against the managers, who he holds responsible for orchestrating his impeachment in the Texas House on charges of bribery and misuse of office. Paxton, who is in his third term, was suspended from office for nearly four months before his acquittal on all charges in the Republican-controlled Senate in September. He has since backed political challengers to certain GOP House impeachment managers in March’s primary election.

Settling Scores

Jon Taylor, a political science professor at University of Texas at San Antonio, said Paxton’s complaints are about “scoring points against people who are already facing pressure.”

“He thinks he is riding high because he escaped conviction on impeachment,” Taylor said.

Paxton’s home address was released in the context of a bribery claim that alleged he received a home remodel in exchange for providing legal services favorable to a donor, a now-indicted Austin businessman named Nate Paul.

Sara Donovan, a criminal defense attorney at Minton, Bassett, Flores & Carsey, noted that the managers issued a memorandum saying their intent in releasing exhibits from Paxton’s trial was to provide transparency.

“The memorandum, along with the prompt redaction of Paxton’s address from the exhibits after publication, is compelling evidence that the House did not intend to cause harm or a threat of harm, which is a key element of the Texas anti-doxing statute,” Donovan said .

Former prosecutor Jeremy Sylestine, an Austin defense lawyer, said he has a hard time finding a case from Paxton’s complaint.

“I’m sure it wasn’t a great feeling for him to see that posted, but I don’t think that’s a crime,” said Sylestine, a partner with Cofer & Connelly.

Prosecutors in other counties where members of the impeachment team reside said they haven’t received complaints from Paxton yet.

“We have received no complaints from Attorney General Ken Paxton or his office,” a Tarrant County spokesperson wrote. The county is home to Rep. Charlie Geren (R).

An attorney for Hidalgo County, home of Democratic Reps. Oscar Longoria and Terry Canales, wrote: “We have no information responsive to your request.”

El Paso County, home of Rep. Joe Moody (D), also said it hasn’t received a complaint.