Texas Seeks to Stop Special Counsel From Erasing Trump Files (1)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) asked a federal court to prevent special counsel Jack Smith from destroying documents related to his investigation and prosecution of president-elect Donald Trump.

After Trump won reelection, Paxton’s office filed a Freedom of Information Act request for records from Smith’s investigation into Trump’s alleged criminal activities during his first term as president. Fearing that Smith will destroy the records, Paxton seeks a temporary restraining order from the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The case was assigned to Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, who was appointed by Trump.

Texas filed its FOIA request on Nov. 8. The Nov. 11 petition in federal court says that the order is necessary because the US Department of Justice has a history of destroying special counsel records to avoid transparency. It also says that Smith’s team has an incentive to destroy the requested records because it has allegedly broken the law during its investigation.

Though Texas would like all of Smith’s records preserved, at a minimum it seeks all the records that are subject to its FOIA request. The TRO is necessary, the petition says, because Texas can’t sue for the records under the FOIA until Dec. 10, and its needs to ensure that they are preserved.

The state also says that because the Northern District of Texas will eventually have jurisdiction over the potential FOIA suit, it has jurisdiction to issue the TRO.

The non-statutory review action is appropriate because destruction of the records is outside of Smith’s statutory authority, the petition says. Smith must also preserve the records under the FOIA and their destruction will violate the Federal Records Act, it says.

DOJ declined to comment for this story.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office represents the state.

The case is Texas v. Garland, N.D. Tex., No. 2:24-cv-00240-Z, complaint filed 11/11/24.