Texas AG Asks Trump Admin to Rescind Federal Relief Funds
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants to give back millions of dollars in federal relief funds back to the Trump administration.
The said relief funds were allocated for Harris County's plans to expand people's voting options through mail-in voting, according to a document released on Tuesday.
A May 21 letter by Paxton alerted Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that the Texas count had intentions to use federal relief funds "in violation of state law."
He also asked the department to return any amount "improperly spent" to promote the said voting options for Texans, reported Texas Tribune.
At the time, Paxton said the absence of any protections against voter fraud could lead to unlawful abuse of mail-in ballots and facilitation of fraud.
Texas AG Pushed for In-Person Election
Even though experts say there wasn't any evidence that widespread voter fraud could come out of mail-in voting, Texas remained firm in its claim on mail-in balloting, said a report from CBS affiliate KHOU.
The letter was published by watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.
Paxton's office and the Treasury did not respond for comment.
Paxton's letter was the latest of the Republican AG to keep Texas' strict rules that most of the state's residents would have to vote in-person, even amid a pandemic.
Neither Paxton's office nor the Department of Treasury offered comment on the said letter.
Election Workers Say Federal Funds A 'Public Safety' Investment
Despite Paxton's comments, Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria said the federal funded aided election workers in keeping themselves safe from the coronavirus.
People used drive-thru, socially distanced lines or some polling places to vote 24 hours in a day.
Read also: Nearly 127,000 Drive-Thru Votes in Texas Saved by Federal Judge Ruling
Longoria pointed out that the funds served a purpose of helping Texas have safe voting options.
"Just as intended, voters had more options to vote without jeopardizing their health," she said in a statement to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.
Longoria added that the effort was for public safety that "resulted in record voter turnout."
"We're proud to show Ken Paxton what it looks like to invest in public safety rather than politicized letters," she added.
Texas was one of the few states that did not broaden its use of mail-in voting for the recent presidential election. This is despite coronavirus still looming dangerously around the country at the time.
Read also: Harris County Wants to Send All Voters Mail-In Ballot Applications, State Plans to Stop It
State and federal courts prevented Texas cities to offer mail-in voting applications to people who feared getting infected by the virus if they voted in person.
Local authorities believe the same as President Donald Trump who said election fraud is bound to happen in the election through mail-in methods.
Some speculate that Paxton may be looking for preemptive pardon in the weeks left of Trump's term.
He is being investigated for accusations of bribery, abuse of office and other offenses, but Paxton has denied such wrongdoings.
Of his five years in office, he also spent most of his days under a state felony indictment for securities fraud.
The case has been stalled for years by legal challenges and Paxton pleaded not guilty in the case.
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