Report says Paxton used consumer protection office to target groups he opposed
The Texas Tribune and ProPublica say Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton repeatedly used the state’s consumer protection division to investigate groups whose work clashed with his politics.
The Texas Tribune and ProPublica report that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton repeatedly used the state’s consumer protection office to seek records from organizations whose work conflicted with his political views, identifying more than a dozen such cases over the past two years.
The reporting says the office is meant to police consumer harm, but Paxton instead used it to press a range of targets, from drug makers and hospitals to charities and online platforms. The Tribune and ProPublica also said it is unclear how many similar matters may still be open because the attorney general’s office does not consistently keep a public list of its records demands and is withholding some records under public-information exemptions.
One example cited in the report began in February 2022 after Paxton issued a nonbinding legal opinion saying certain gender-affirming treatments, including puberty blockers, could be considered child abuse. The article says his office then demanded records from AbbVie and Endo Pharmaceuticals, including a list of hormone blockers sold and notes from meetings with Texas health care providers. Paxton said he wanted to know whether the companies had deceptively advertised and promoted the drugs without disclosing risks to children and parents.
The story also describes a GoFundMe inquiry that followed the company’s handling of a $10 million Canadian truckers’ fundraiser tied to vaccine-mandate protests. Paxton said he would investigate GoFundMe after it initially planned to send remaining funds to other charities, though the company later refunded all donations.
Other cases named in the report include probes into the Texas Bar Foundation and later the groups American Gateways, Equal Justice Center and Tahirih Justice Center after they received foundation funding. The article says Paxton questioned whether the money was being used to worsen the border crisis.
The Tribune and ProPublica also said Paxton demanded records from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson in May 2023 over marketing of COVID-19 vaccines in Texas. Paxton later sued Pfizer, accusing it of unlawfully misrepresenting vaccine effectiveness and trying to censor public discussion of the product. Pfizer moved to dismiss the case in federal court, arguing Texas consumer protection law could not be used because the vaccines came from the federal government, not the state.
Two hospital investigations are also described. After a Project Veritas video in April 2023 alleged a Dell Children’s Medical Center social worker said the hospital provided gender-affirming treatment to children as young as 8, Paxton’s office sent demands for records on puberty blockers for minors and referrals for gender-transition counseling or treatment. The article says that care was legal at the time. It also says Texas families later said the hospital stopped offering those services, while Dell Children’s said its adolescent medicine clinic remained open but the physicians who staffed it would leave.
The report says Paxton also sent a demand letter to Texas Children’s Hospital after Abbott directed child welfare investigations in 2022 and a later City Journal report alleged the hospital was providing hormone therapy to transgender children. Texas Children’s said it would discontinue certain services, including hormone therapy, before a ban took effect.
One of the more recent matters involved Yelp. Paxton and 23 other attorneys general had accused the company in February 2023 of misleading customers by labeling crisis pregnancy centers as providing limited medical care. On Sept. 26, 2023, Paxton’s office said it had opened an investigation and planned to sue over the initial notices.
The article says Paxton’s office did not answer detailed questions about the investigations, including how many remain open. Companies and groups named in the report gave a mix of responses, including statements that they complied with requests, followed their terms of service or were committed to patient safety and acting within the law.
Sources
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