Paxton sought to pull Harris relief funds
WASHINGTON — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton tried to get the Trump administration to revoke millions in federal COVID relief funding that Harris County budgeted for expanded mail-in voting earlier this year, newly revealed records show.
Paxton wrote in a May 21 letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that Harris County’s plan was an “abuse” of the county’s authority and an “egregious” violation of state law. The letter was obtained and published by the Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
“We respectfully ask the department to scrutinize its award of CARES Act funding to Harris County in light of the county’s stated intent to use federal funding in violation of state law, and to the extent possible, seek return of any amounts improperly spent on efforts to promote illegal mailin voting,” Paxton wrote. “Without implementing adequate protections against unlawful abuse of mail-in ballots, the department could be cast in a position of involuntarily facilitating election fraud.”
The letter to Mnuchin illustrates the lengths Paxton went in his efforts to stop Harris and other counties from making it easier to vote by mail during the pandemic, which included later suing Harris County to block its plan to send mail ballot applications to all 2.4 million of its registered voters. Under Texas law, voting by mail is only an option for people who are 65 and older, disabled, incarcerated or out of the county on election day.
The mail-ballot application push was part of the county’s $27.2 million plan to expand voting options, funded in large part through CARES Act money. The county also instituted drive-thru voting and expanded the number of polling locations.
All told, the county spent about $33 million administering the November 2020 election, according to Elizabeth Lewis, spokeswoman for the Harris County Election Administrator’s Office. About $24 million of that came from CARES funding, the majority of which paid for PPE or staffing costs.
Paxton and other state leaders alleged that mail-in voting is more susceptible to fraud, though there is no evidence to support those claims. Paxton’s office spent nearly twice the amount of time working voter fraud cases this year, but resolved half as many cases as it did two years ago, all of them minor cases from Harris County in which residents gave false addresses on their voter registration forms.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled in October that County Clerk Christopher Hollins exceeded his authority by attempting to send applications to voters who had not requested them. Harris County had printed 2 million applications by that time and had to destroy them.
The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Mnuchin heeded Paxton’s request to investigate how Harris County used the funding.
A spokeswoman for Paxton declined comment Wednesday other than to say the letter “speaks for itself.”
In a written statement, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said the loss of the federal relief funds “would have knocked the floor out of our citizens’ ability to vote safely” during an important election held in the middle of a global pandemic.
“This attempt to cut off emergency federal funding for fellow Texans is indefensible,” she said. “To do so in secret is truly a shame and I’m relieved this is now out in the open.”
Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria issued a statement say
ing Harris County’s use of CARES funding worked “as intended” to keep voters and election workers safe during the November election, which saw record turnout.
“Voters had more options to vote without jeopardizing their health. We invested in public safety that resulted in record voter turnout,” Longoria said.
“We’re proud to show Ken Paxton what it looks like to invest in public safety rather than politicized letters.”
Members of the Texas Democratic Party accused the attorney general of “picking fights” to distract from his personal life.
“In the middle of the biggest pandemic in American history, every Texan should have been afforded the opportunity to vote as safely as possible. Indicted Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton continues to try to pick fights to distract away from his personal life and his abuse of office. Paxton is a carnival barker who has made Texas a laughingstock with his ridiculous inquiries and lawsuits. To restore trust in the Attorney General’s office, we must all band together to vote him and his abuse of power out in 2022.”
Paxton was indicted in 2015 on felony security fraud charges, but
his trial has been delayed amid questions of venue and objections by Paxton and his supporters to how much a pair of special prosecutors are paid.
In November, news surfaced that he is under investigation by the FBI after eight of his former aides accused him of illegally using his position to benefit a political donor.
Harris County Democrats also excoriated Paxton Tuesday, saying they were “appalled” by his actions.
“Paxton and those whose bidding he does have many times over proven to be about self interest and not about serving the good people of Texas,” Harris County Democratic Party Chair Lillie Schechter said. “We are grateful for the hard work and integrity of our County Clerk’s office. Their commitment to a safe election gave voters much confidence to cast their votes and led to record breaking voting this election cycle.
“Paxton’s work to secretly defund these efforts is why we must remember his shameful actions as an attack on democracy and vote him and all those who stand for these tactics out of office.”
Officials from the Harris County Republican Party and the state
Republican party did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. Gov. Greg Abbott’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, RHouston, said he shared some of Paxton’s concerns.
“We printed and disposed of about 2 million absentee ballot forms,” he said. “And I would like a full accounting for all those monies. … If we’re going to spend that kind of money, we need an accounting of how it was spent.”
Bob Stein, a Rice University political scientist, said Paxton’s letter mirrored similar efforts from the attorney general in the months leading up to the election to restrict voting, including preventing the county from sending out ballot applications, suing to limit drop-off ballot locations, and other measures.
He said Paxton’s behavior “perplexed” him.
“Paxton is claiming someone broke the law (by voting illegally),” he said. “He’s the chief law enforcement officer in Texas. If he thought something illegally was being done, why isn’t he investigating?”