U.S. Judge Backs Paxton in Subpoena Dodge
as AG Blasts Media in Cahoots with Radicals
Capitol Inside
September 27, 2022
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton declared victory on Tuesday after a federal judge invalidated a subpoena that sparked high drama in his driveway with his wife who's a state senator as a key supporting character when a process server attempted to deliver it to their home the previous day.
Judge Robert Pitman - a Barack Obama nominee who serves on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas - granted Paxton's bid to quash the subpoena that had been issued in connection with a lawsuit by abortion providers trying to head off prosecutions of cases performed before the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade.
Paxton argued in the motion that the server had behaved suspiciously and posed a "serious security risk" to his family while he "loitered" outside the attorney general's home for more than a hour while shouting repeatedly at him. Paxton portrayed the incident as a "made-up controversy" and "shameless stunt" that was perpetuated by political enemies and exacerbated by the press.
Paxton, who's facing Democrat Rochelle Garza at the ballot box this fall, suggested that it could have been worse.
"Given that this suspicious and erratic man charged me on my private property, he is lucky this situation did not escalate further or necessitate force," the attorney general said in a Twitter post on Tuesday afternoon. "As leaders across America, from elected officials to Supreme Court Justices, face unprecedent threats of politically motivated violence, I believe this type of behavior utilized by radical activists is thoroughly disgusting and should be met with swift condemnation - not championed in the media."
But unleashed a blistering round of criticism at the media for what he apparently perceived to be unflattering coverage of the dust up and successful subpoena ducking.
“This is a ridiculous waste of time and the media should be ashamed of themselves,” Paxton tweeted. “All across the country, conservatives have faced threats to their safety – many threats that received scant coverage or condemnation from the mainstream media.”
Paxton did not elaborate on what he found so offensive about the reporting on a story that the media would have been derelict to ignore. But he repeated the persecution warning in another tweet.
"It’s clear that the media wants to drum up another controversy involving my work as Attorney General, so they’re attacking me for having the audacity to avoid a stranger lingering outside my home and showing concern about the safety and well-being of my family,” Paxton contended.
The same basic story emerged in the mainstream media. The process server parked outside the Paxton house, approached the front door, rang the doorbell and prepared to hand the subpoena to the AG when a woman answered the doorbell and identified herself as Angela. That would be GOP State Senator Angela Paxton of McKinney.
According to court documents that were filed by the plaintiffs in the suit related to the abortion ban, the server Ernesto Martin Herrera told Paxton's wife he would wait for her husband outside. More than an hour passed before he saw Paxton leaving through the garage en route to a truck that his spouse had backed into the driveway.
more to come ...
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