When the Texas Senate declined to remove him from office during an impeachment trial in September, Paxton immediately went back to his regular activities, which is to say he started using the office of attorney general to sue anybody and everybody, usually in service of some political cause.
Some of these lawsuits make sense, and favorable results could help Texans. Others seem like they’re obviously intended to stir up controversy and redirect taxpayer-funded resources to issues outside of Texas’ scope. And some look designed to gin up a Republican base that’s preoccupied with causes few others notice or care about and to burnish Paxton’s political credentials, perhaps for a run at higher office.
Last Tuesday, Paxton joined two conservative media companies in one of his most brazen attempts to take on the federal government. Paxton joined the Daily Wire and The Federalist to sue the State Department and Secretary of State Antony Blinken for what the attorney general called “engaging in a conspiracy to censor, deplatform, and demonetize American media outlets disfavored by the federal government.”
The lawsuit says the companies are suing to halt “one of the most audacious, manipulative, secretive, and gravest abuses of power and infringements of First Amendment rights by the federal government in American history.” The suit claims to have details of federal censorship via the Global Engagement Center, the State Department organization that purports to counter foreign propaganda. In this case, the suit alleges it sponsors Newsguard to censor domestic speech like the media organizations listed in the suit engage in.
There may be some merit to the lawsuit. Federal law prohibits the State Department from using funds to influence public opinion, and the concept is entirely antithetical to a functional and robust free market and free press. The suit will have to play out.
Of course, Texas supports the First Amendment — as everyone should — but why does it fall to the taxpayers of Texas to subsidize legal representation for media outlets? Should the suit prevail, how would a win benefit the people who the attorney general’s office is supposed to help? The single mother trying to get child support, residents in border towns overwhelmed and in need of resources, the victims of crime trying to seek recourse?
You would think Paxton might be chastened about using the power of his office to help specific, politically aligned allies. Despite his acquittal in the Senate, few can have looked at the details of his extensive efforts to help a developer, Nate Paul, with his own legal battle with the feds. As we warned at the time, the Senate signed off on this favoritism, and Paxton is happy to continue it in service of his own career.
The Federalist and the Daily Wire are both well-known outlets on the right, and their content attracts particularly pro-Donald Trump audiences. As much as Paxton might support the ideas in this lawsuit, it’s a political entanglement the state does not need.
Soon after his trial ended, Paxton sued Pfizer for “misrepresenting COVID-19 vaccine efficacy.” That one, at least, might represent aggrieved Texans who thought the inoculations were oversold. But it undermines vaccination efforts and, ironically, seeks to diminish one of Trump’s signature achievements. And after all Trump has done for Paxton, too.
The AG also opened an investigation into Media Matters, a progressive group that tracks conservative media, for potential fraud. In that case, Paxton moved on behalf of X (formerly Twitter), owned by Elon Musk. You know, one of the richest men in the world. Once again, how exactly does this help everyday Texans?
Time and again, Paxton has shown he has no shame about using state resources to advance the causes of himself and his political allies. Since his impeachment trial, he seems to have ratcheted this penchant up a notch. Texans deserve a strong advocate as attorney general, but the office should stay focused on pressing issues that affect the 30 million people who live here, not the MAGA fanbase foaming at the mouth online over the latest outrage.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
