Texas AG Ken Paxton Fled Home To Escape Subpoena In Abortion Rights Case, Court Filing Shows

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fled his home along with his wife Monday in an attempt to evade a subpoena in an abortion rights case that was set for hearing in a federal court on Tuesday, the Texas Tribune first reported.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC … [+] held at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas.

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Key Facts

Ernesto Martin Herrera, the person who arrived to serve the documents, said he was first met at the door by a woman who identified herself as Angela Paxton—Paxton’s wife—while the attorney general turned around and went back inside after seeing him, according to a Texas federal court filing.

Herrera informed the woman he had come to deliver important legal documents but was told that Paxton was on the phone and in a hurry to leave somewhere.

After waiting for more than an hour on the street in front of the residence, Herrera saw Paxton exiting his garage and approached him by calling his name, following which Paxton “turned around and RAN back inside the house.”

Sometime later, Paxton’s wife Angela emerged from the house and started their truck while leaving a passenger door open after which Paxton “RAN from the door inside the garage” and entered the truck through the open door, Herrera said in the filing.

Paxton allegedly ignored Herrera’s attempts to serve him the subpoena, following which Herrera left the document on the ground near the truck.

Paxton’s truck left the residence while the documents remained on the ground.

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In a statement on Twitter, Paxton said: “This is a ridiculous waste of time and the media should be ashamed of themselves. All across the country, conservatives have faced threats to their safety — many threats that received scant coverage or condemnation from the mainstream media. 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.”

Key Background

The subpoena ordered Paxton to testify in a federal court hearing in a class-action case brought on by abortion rights groups in Texas. According to a lawsuit filed last month, the groups are seeking legal protection from threats of criminal charges—including murder—under Texas’ stringent abortion ban for helping fund out-of-state abortions for women in the state.

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