Evers Slams Paxton for Lawsuit

Gov. Tony Evers. File photo by Emily Hamer / Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.

While the Texas attorney general is suing Wisconsin and three other states for allowing people to vote from home  during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Tony Evers calls the accusation “outrageous” and points out that the accuser is under federal investigation.

Ken Paxton. Photo from the State of Texas.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the lawsuit Tuesday, taking the case directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. It accuses Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin of failing to prevent vote-by-mail fraud — despite bipartisan agreement by state and national election officials that the 2020 election was the most secure in history and that President Donald Trump has no credible evidence for his allegations to the contrary. The lawsuit asks the high court to delay the Dec. 14 deadline for the electoral college to cast votes for president.

A reporter asked Evers about the lawsuit during the governor’s media briefing with the state Department of Health Services (DHS) on the COVID-19 pandemic Tuesday.

“Think of the irony here,” Evers replied. “We have a Texas Attorney General who’s being investigated by the FBI for various improprieties and numerous newspapers in Texas calling for his resignation. And he teams up with President Trump to try to take away the votes of the people in Wisconsin.”

The Associated Press reported in November that the FBI was investigating Paxton on accusations of bribery using his office to benefit a wealthy donor following allegations made by members of the attorney general’s staff, who were subsequently fired. Paxton also remains under an indictment from 2015 for securities fraud.

More than one wag on social media speculated that Paxton sued in hopes of winning a presidential pardon from Trump in his last weeks in office.

“It’s irony, but it’s not funny irony — it’s extraordinarily sad,” Evers said of the lawsuit.

Earlier Tuesday, the governor said, he was discussing the cold weather coming on, the plight of homeless people, the “extraordinarily difficult winter with nonprofits not being able to raise money because of the pandemic” and the prospect that shelters across the state will stay closed as volunteers stay away out of fear of the coronavirus.

“And then we have this happen, and we have to focus our energy, because some person that’s being federally investigated in Texas is trying to take away the votes of the people in Wisconsin,” Evers said. “I just think it’s outrageous. It’d be funny, if we didn’t have all these other things going on, but it’s just outrageous.

“The president shouldn’t be hanging out with people like this.”

Reprinted with permission of Wisconsin Examiner.