WaPo: “Last spring, four Texas newspapers asked Paxton’s office for all work-related texts and emails sent and received while he was in Washington for “Stop the Steal,” citing Texas law guaranteeing the public the right to government documents.
Paxton refused, and the four newspapers took their complaint to Travis County district attorney Jose Garza. Now Garza’s office has investigated the complaint and found that it has merit, announcing that Paxton is in violation of Texas law and giving him four days to release the documents in question, or go to court.
What makes this so remarkable is that the office of Paxton, as attorney general, is supposed to be the party enforcing this open records law. But Texas law also offers the option of going to the Travis County prosecutor to allege that a state agency (in this case, Paxton’s) is in violation.
That’s what happened here. Underscoring the absurdity of this, one transparency expert told the Houston Chronicle that he could not recall another example of an attorney general being accused of violating the law to keep his own communications out of the public eye.
It’s hard to say what Paxton’s communications — presuming they do come out — will contain. And there’s no indication that they will necessarily contain anything that explosive. But it’s reasonable to suspect they may include exchanges with some of the rally’s organizers and possibly Trump’s inner circle about what was about to transpire.”