Still a crook any way you look
A nonprofit focused on increasing Latinos’ civic participation sued Attorney General Ken Paxton in federal court Friday so it could continue its voter registration efforts after the Republican official targeted them in an investigation last month.
The organization Jolt said in its request for a temporary restraining order that Paxton’s investigation would irreparably harm the organization and its associates by disclosing personal information and potentially placing its workers, volunteers and associates in harm’s way.
“If Jolt were forced to disclose confidential information to the Attorney General, it would be considered a betrayal of the trust that Jolt has earned from the Texas Latino community,” the organization’s lawyer, Mimi Marziani, wrote in the lawsuit. “It would make it more difficult for Jolt to associate with others and carry out its mission effectively, and it would likely put Jolt employees and others associated with the organization in danger.”
The background: Jolt’s lawsuit comes as Paxton, a Republican, has tried to bolster unfounded claims that Democrats are allowing noncitizens into the country so they can vote in large numbers. It also follows unprecedented attempts to investigate or shut down nonprofit social aid organizations that assist migrants and Latinos.
Last month, Paxton announced that his office was investigating whether organizations in Texas were “unlawfully registering noncitizens to vote” after FOX News host Maria Bartiromo had posted on social media that someone had seen organizations in Parker County and Fort Worth registering “immigrants” to vote.
The elections administrator and Republican County Chair in Parker County had told news outlets there was no evidence to support the charge. Experts say there is no evidence that people who aren’t U.S. citizens vote in elections in mass numbers. And before someone is allowed to vote, local and Texas officials verify their eligibility.
But on Aug. 31, Jolt, which had been registering people to vote outside Department of Public Safety offices in Fort Worth, received a “Request to Examine” from Paxton’s office asking the organization to turn over several documents, including information it provides about the voter registration process and all of the voter registration receipts it had completed.
In its lawsuit, Jolt said Paxton did not identify a reason why the nonprofit needed to provide the information and did not accuse the organization of any wrongdoing. The group also said Paxton did not obtain the permission or authority from a court to obtain the documents, instead asking for a “Request to Examine” under state law regulating the organization of businesses.
If Jolt did not comply with the request, the nonprofit could forfeit the ability to do business in the state. The nonprofit said in its lawsuit that it is also a Class B misdemeanor to fail to comply with the request from the attorney general’s office.
That Bartiromo story was noted in passing here. I don’t recall Jolt being mentioned before, but I’m sure Paxton’s been out casting a wide net. I assume this is the same Jolt that was founded by Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, but I didn’t find anything from them in a cursory search, so that’s just my assumption. As for the legal action here, well, everything Paxton has done so far has been based on fiction and lies, and so far at least his bullying efforts against immigrant-focused nonprofits have been stopped. As always, it’s not over until the appeals run out, so don’t get complacent. The short term goal is to stop or at least slow down the bullshit until after the election. From there, we have to get back to the more long-term efforts. You know what I’m talking about.
At a recent Bayou Blue Democrats meeting a slide was shown that noted Ken Paxton spent $3.3 million and closed 6 voter fraud cases in the last two years. You can find a club in your area and get active- https://clubsinaction.com/
I would also like to point out, for the indies and Republicans in the audience, that there are only two possibilities here: either there is rampant vote fraud and despite enormous effort Ken Paxton cannot find it, or there just isn’t hardly any such fraud. In the first case Ken Paxton is completely incompetent, and does not deserve to remain in office. In the second case he is deliberately lying and wasting a crap ton of taxpayer money, and does not deserve to remain in office. Take your pick.
I did a little further research on this story because it omitted which court this suit was filed in. It was filed in THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS. It’s a 25 page document which I found and linked to.
I don’t think a judge has been assigned this case yet.
https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/jolt-initiative-v-ken-paxton.pdf