AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday celebrated his 100th lawsuit against the Biden administration, suing Attorney General Merrick Garland and President Joe Biden’s Justice Department.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Amarillo, Texas, seeks to prevent the Justice Department from destroying documents related to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation and prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump. He argues that the Justice Department has a history of discarding documents to avoid transparency.
Paxton claims that previous special counsels, including Robert Mueller, have destroyed records related to the Trump investigation and “shielded responsibility.”
On November 8, Paxton filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain these records. Paxton filed the lawsuit because the state of Texas cannot sue to obtain these records under FOIA until Dec. 10, arguing that they must be preserved.
Paxton alleges that Garland and the Justice Department violated laws during the investigation.
“We will not allow the corrupt weaponization of the United States government to be swept under the rug as Jack Smith and others who unfairly targeted President Trump seek to avoid accountability,” Paxton said in a news release. “The American people deserve transparency, and those responsible for these illegal witch hunts must not hide the evidence of their wrongdoing.”
Neither Garland nor the Justice Department has publicly commented on Paxton’s case.
