In a letter sent to lawmakers late Wednesday, David Whitley said he's sorry for the way he launched the review efforts but appeared not to be backing down from continuing the review.

A Paxton deputy told a Guadalupe County official Feb. 1 that the attorney general's office "has pending criminal investigations related to these issues."

Some lawmakers had fretted that sending the preliminary, faulty list to the state's top prosecutor would intimidate voters.

At his confirmation hearing, Whitley faced tough questioning from Democrats over his decision to erroneously question the citizenship status of tens of thousands of voters.

Republican David Whitley faces questions from Democrats about how he handled an attempt to review the citizenship of 95,000 registered Texas voters.

The ACLU and others are asking a federal court to block counties from sending notices requiring certain voters to prove their citizenship.

The plaintiffs allege the state's move to flag tens of thousands of registered voters for citizenship reviews violates the U.S. Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act.

Atascosa County resident Julie Hilberg — a naturalized citizen whose registration was flagged by the state — is joining a lawsuit against top Texas officials.

Those citizens are in addition to the people who were removed from the list earlier this week after the secretary of state's office found they had been added by mistake.

Texas officials flagged 95,000 voters for citizenship reviews. But after thousands have already been cleared, questions are being raised about how they handled the process.

The Texas governor said Thursday that the 95,000 voters that the secretary of state flagged for review was never meant to be a "hard-and-fast list."

County officials said the number mistakenly flagged is "significant."

The lawsuit comes after at least one county has begun sending notices asking certain voters to prove that they are citizens.

The Texas Tribune reached out Monday to 13 of the 15 counties with the most registered voters; only Galveston County indicated it would immediately send out letters asking voters for proof of citizenship.

Thirteen groups issued the warning, and some are considering suing the state.