Texas AG Ken Paxton fled home with his wife to avoid subpoena in abortion case, court filing says

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fled his location to debar being served a subpoena Monday successful a national suit filed by groups seeking to assistance Texans person out-of-state abortions, tribunal filings show.

Paxton ran from the store of his location successful McKinney, Texas, into a motortruck driven by his wife, State Sen. Angela Paxton, portion refusing to judge the documents from a process server, according to an affidavit filed Monday successful U.S. District Court successful Austin.

The Paxtons drove distant without taking the documents, which were near connected the crushed by the house, process server Ernesto Martin Herrera wrote successful the sworn affidavit.

The subpoena ordered Paxton, a Republican, to attest successful proceeding Tuesday greeting successful a civilian suit successful which aggregate Texas-based nonprofits privation to resume helping large residents get abortions successful different states. That includes paying for out-of-state termination providers and providing fiscal assistance to those seeking abortions, arsenic good arsenic providing interstate question to those providers.

The nonprofits accidental their abortion-assisting activities had ceased soon earlier the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which enshrined the national close to termination for decades, successful a 5-4 ballot successful June. The precocious court's ruling successful Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization besides threw retired different case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which had mostly upheld the close to an termination established by Roe.

Paxton successful a brace of tweets precocious Monday nighttime claimed helium was showing interest for his household and attacked the media for reporting connected the affidavit, without denying the substance of the document.

"This is simply a ridiculous discarded of clip and the media should beryllium ashamed of themselves," Paxton tweeted successful effect to a Texas Tribune article.

"All crossed the country, conservatives person faced threats to their information — galore threats that received scant sum oregon condemnation from the mainstream media," his tweet said.

"It's wide that the media wants to drum up different contention involving my enactment arsenic Attorney General, truthful they're attacking maine for having the audacity to debar a alien lingering extracurricular my location and showing interest astir the information and well-being of my family," helium said successful a 2nd tweet.

Herrera's affidavit said that helium arrived astatine Paxton's location Monday astatine 8:28 a.m. and was greeted astatine the beforehand doorway by a pistillate who identified herself arsenic Angela. When helium told her that helium was trying to present the subpoenas to Ken Paxton, she told him that the AG was connected the phone.

Herrera, who said helium recognized Ken Paxton wrong the location done solid connected the door, offered to hold for him. Angela replied that Paxton "was successful a hurry to leave," according to Herrera, who observed a achromatic Chevy motortruck successful the driveway and past saw different car get there.

At astir 9:40 a.m., Herrera said helium saw Paxton exiting his garage. Herrera walked up the driveway toward Paxton and called retired his name, astatine which constituent "he turned astir and RAN backmost wrong the location done the aforesaid doorway successful the garage."

Minutes later, Angela came retired to the motortruck and opened some the driver-side doorway and the doorway down it, Herrera wrote. A fewer minutes aft she started the truck, "I saw Mr. Paxton RAN from the doorway wrong the store towards the rear doorway down the operator side," Herrera wrote.

"I approached the truck, and loudly called him by his sanction and stated that I had tribunal documents for him. Mr. Paxton ignored maine and kept heading for the truck. After determining that Mr. Paxton was not going to instrumentality the Subpoenas from my hand, I stated that I was serving him with ineligible documents and was leaving them connected the crushed wherever helium could get them," Herrera wrote.

"I past placed the documents connected the crushed beside the truck. Service was completed astatine 9:50 am. He got successful the motortruck leaving the documents connected the ground, and past some vehicles left," helium wrote.

In July, Paxton sued the Biden administration implicit guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services that hospitals and doctors indispensable execute abortions successful exigency situations.

Paxton, who was elected lawyer wide successful 2014 and re-elected successful 2018, has been nether indictment connected securities fraud charges for 7 years, though the lawsuit has not gone to trial. He won his Republican superior successful May, defeating GOP challenger George P. Bush successful a runoff.