AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The State Bar of Texas is dropping efforts to discipline Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton over allegations that his failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election amounted to professional misconduct.
The decision, revealed Wednesday in court filings, ends a yearslong attempt to potentially sanction Paxton over making false claims of fraud when he filed a lawsuit that questioned Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Republican President Donald Trump.
The move comes a month after the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Paxton’s top deputy could not be sanctioned over similar accusations. A disciplinary commission for the state bar cited that December ruling in moving to drop its lawsuit against Paxton.
A spokesperson for the State Bar of Texas declined to comment Thursday. Spokespeople for the attorney general did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Paxton has long attacked the accusations against him as baseless and politically motivated.
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Jose Luis Magana
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