American Oversight Opposes Gov. Abbott and AG Paxton’s Ongoing Efforts to Dismiss Records Suit

American Oversight filed a brief on Thursday in the Texas Supreme Court opposing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s and Attorney General Ken Paxton’s petition for the court to dismiss the nonprofit watchdog organization’s public records lawsuit. 

In June 2022, American Oversight sued Abbott’s and Paxton’s offices for failing to release several sets of requested public records, including email communications with gun industry lobbyists and supporters following the 2022 mass shooting in Uvalde, and any emails sent by Paxton around the Jan. 6 insurrection, when he spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House. 

In their third attempt to dismiss American Oversight’s lawsuit, Abbott and Paxton advance a number of problematic arguments, including claiming that the trial court cannot review the actions of executive officials under the state’s Public Information Act. According to Abbott and Paxton, only the state Supreme Court can review the attorney general’s compliance with the law’s requirements, and no court at all can enforce the law against the governor. 

They also argue that their offices had fulfilled their obligations under the state’s public records law by merely responding to American Oversight’s requests — even though their responses included admissions that they continue to withhold some records and implausible claims that certain records do not exist or are exempt from disclosure — and are now shielded from being sued under the doctrine of sovereign immunity. 

This position would limit the public’s right to oversight over the Texas government and shield the governor entirely from enforcement of the PIA. Abbott and Paxton previously asked both the District Court and the Texas Court of Appeals to dismiss this case. Both courts sided with American Oversight and allowed the case to proceed, with the appeals court holding that the trial court has the ability to compel the governor and attorney general “to produce public information under the PIA,” and that American Oversight had sufficiently alleged that the officials’ responses to requests were “incomplete.” In March 2024, Abbott and Paxton once again appealed the court’s decision, this time to the state Supreme Court.

Among the requested records at issue in the lawsuit are both Abbott’s and Paxton’s communications with the National Rifle Association and other gun groups from the days after the school shooting in Uvalde, when Abbott canceled a scheduled appearance at an NRA convention in Houston and instead sent a video message. His office told American Oversight that no such records of communication exist. 

American Oversight also requested texts and emails sent to or by Paxton from any non-governmental email address as well as his communications from around Jan. 6, 2021. Paxton has withheld nearly all records responsive to these requests under claims of attorney-client privilege.

More information on American Oversight’s other investigations in Texas is available here.