Gov. Greg Abbott, AG Ken Paxton do not have to release Uvalde or Jan. 6 emails, Texas Supreme Court rules

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The Texas Supreme Court has ruled two of Texas’ most powerful leaders do not have to release years of emails related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and communications with gun lobbyists after the 2022 Uvalde shooting.

American Oversight, a government watchdog nonprofit, filed a lawsuit in 2022 seeking access to Attorney General Ken Paxton’s emails in the days around Jan. 6, 2021, as well as his and Gov. Greg Abbott’s communications with National Rifle Association officials after the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde.

In a Friday decision that narrows the public’s legal options to challenge Texas officials under the state’s open records law, the Texas Supreme Court sided with Abbott and Paxton, who argued they did not have to release some records due to rules protecting confidential communications with attorneys. The state’s top officials also say they had complied with open records law just by responding to American Oversight’s request.

In its finding, the high court agreed with Abbott and Paxton’s further argument that it is the only legal body in Texas with authority to review executive officials’ compliance with open records law — not the lower district court in which American Oversight first sought intervention.

“We are under no obligation, of course, to maximize the scope of the PIA’s [Public Information Act] remedies,” Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock wrote in the opinion. “Our job is to understand what those remedies are, as the Legislature has written them.”

Blacklock said it was up to the Legislature, not the courts, to expand the power of the public to seek legal remedies against state officials.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Paxton spoke at a rally for President Donald Trump that devolved into a riot at the U.S. Capitol. Paxton has declined to say who paid for the trip to Washington and refused to release his communications from before, during and after the event, contending that he was there on official state business.

“I had a state purpose,” Paxton said at a legislative hearing that year. “The next day I had meetings at the White House. ...That’s how I spent most of my time.”

Abbott and Paxton have also said their offices did not have any communications with NRA officials after the Uvalde shooting, a claim American Oversight said is “not credible.”

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