Judge halts Ken Paxton’s lawsuit against ActBlue, citing political retaliation

A federal judge in Massachusetts this week blocked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from pursuing his lawsuit against the progressive fundraising platform ActBlue, ruling it was at least partially politically motivated.U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns also said Thursday that Paxton could not continue to litigate the case because ActBlue was likely to succeed in its claims that the lawsuit infringed on its First Amendment’s free-speech protections.
Stearns also sided with ActBlue’s argument that the lawsuit was likely at least partially motivated by the company’s clients being liberal candidates, including Paxton’s rival in the Senate midterms this November, state Rep. James Talarico.
“The lawsuit in Texas is undoubtedly an adverse action,” Stearns wrote in a 15-page order. “Having previously found bad faith, the court agrees with ActBlue that the evidence in the record compels the conclusion that, far from protecting Texas consumers, the action was filed in retaliation for ActBlue’s fundraising on behalf of Talarico, Paxton’s current political rival for the Senate seat.”
The ruling comes after Paxton sued ActBlue in April, alleging that the organization misled consumers and that it maintained unlawful practices that allowed for foreign and fraudulent donations. He is seeking $1 million in monetary relief.
ActBlue has argued in a separate lawsuit that Paxton’s initial complaint was “rife with false and inflammatory allegations.”
 Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage. 

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