Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Under Investigation by U.S House January 6th Committee

Last June, a U.S House Committee was assembled with the objective of investigating the deadly storming of the US Capitol that took place on January 6^th.

After having their first hearing in late January -where they heard the testimonies of Capitol Police officers who guarded the Capitol against the siege- the committee issued a request last Wednesday for communication records involving Donald Trump’s allies, specifically mentioning AG Ken Paxton.

The request carried out to investigate the links between former President Trump and his allies in order to unravel the events leading to the seizure of the Capitol, represents the largest request issued by the commission to date.

According to the Dallas Morning News, the committee, chaired by Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, issued sweeping public records requests to seven executive branch agencies, including the National Archives, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the Interior, the FBI, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the Office of the Director for the National Intelligence.

The closest Trump allies, as well as their family members, are included in the request, with Paxton being one of eight state government officials whose names were highlighted in the letter.

Thompson, D-Mississippi, demanded that the National Archives hand over “all documents and communications referring or relating to the 2020 election results between White House officials and officials of State Governments,” as reported by the Texas Tribune.

“This is our first request for materials, and we anticipate additional requests as our investigation continues,” Thompson wrote.

Noting that requests for similar records had previously taken a very long time to process, Thompson has underscored the urgency of the current request, giving a deadline to comply no later than September 9^th.

Paxton’s inclusion in the letter comes after speaking before several hundred Trump supporters at the rally that took place in Washington D.C, just before the angry crowd proceeded to storm the Capitol.

“We will not quit fighting. We’re Texans, we’re Americans, and the fight will go on,” Paxton told the crowd.

Planning on running for reelection next year, with the latest request for investigation and multiple lawsuits including potential abuse of power, Paxton is currently undergoing the most intense public scrutiny of his career. In addition to six-year-old fraud indictments, the Republican attorney general is under FBI investigation and is being sued for alleged retaliation.