Texas AG Ken Paxton to file doxing complaints against House impeachment managers

AUSTIN — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says he will file criminal complaints against the Board of Managers who spearheaded his impeachment after his home address was published in documents posted online last week.

In a press release sent Monday, Paxton cited a new state law that makes it illegal to post someone’s address or phone number online “with the intent to cause harm or a threat of harm.” It is meant to protect people from “doxing,” the practice of posting someone’s personal information online without their permission and with malicious intent.

The attorney general said he and his family have received “multiple threats of violence.” The complaints will be filed with district attorneys in the managers’ eight home counties, according to the press release.

“The impeachment managers clearly have a desire to threaten me with harm when they released this information last week,” Paxton said. “I’m imploring their local prosecutors in each individual district to investigate the criminal offenses that have been committed.”

Paxton, a Republican, was impeached in May on allegations of corruption. The Texas Senate cleared him after a two-week trial last month.

Last week, the managers who unsuccessfully fought for Paxton’s removal from office posted dozens of pages of evidence they said they were unable to release during his impeachment trial. The address of the Paxtons family’s Austin home was temporarily visible on several documents. The managers pulled them offline the morning after they were published to redact them, saying they were correcting the “mistake.”

Representatives for the managers have not yet responded.

Proving guilt under the new law depends on the individual facts of the case. The potential penalty is a class B misdemeanor punishable by fines and up to 180 days in jail; if someone is hurt as a result of the offense, the penalty increases to up to a year in jail.

Before the new anti-doxing law went into effect last month, state statute already made it a felony to maliciously post the home address or phone number of a public servant online. It is unclear why Paxton is not filing complaints under this law. His spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

While redacted from his annual personal financial disclosures, Paxton’s home addresses are visible on local public appraisal district websites.