A federal judge blocked Paxton’s lawsuit against the Democratic donation platform ActBlue, finding “overwhelming” bad faith

What happened

Paxton filed a consumer-protection lawsuit against ActBlue on April 20, 2026. ⁰¹

ActBlue sued in federal court. It said Paxton’s undercover probe began Feb. 18, right after James Talarico announced raising $2.5 million in 24 hours, and that the office had taken no similar action on complaints about WinRed, the Republican platform. ^{01 02}

On June 11, 2026, U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns blocked Paxton’s suit, writing that it “was filed in retaliation for (and in an attempt to suppress) ActBlue’s efforts to fund Talarico’s campaign.” He found “overwhelming” bad faith and pointed to Paxton’s “well-known history of filing retaliatory lawsuits.” Paxton appealed in August. ^{02 03}

Why it matters

A federal court found that Texas’s attorney general used the powers of his office against his political opponents’ fundraising while running for the Senate himself. ⁰²

What the sources show

The bad-faith finding is a federal court ruling. ActBlue’s account of the investigation’s timing is from its lawsuit. ^{01 02}