Paxton spoke at the Jan. 6 rally, falsely blamed antifa for the Capitol attack, and kept his records from that week secret

What happened

On Jan. 6, 2021, Paxton spoke at the pro-Trump rally in Washington that came before the attack on the U.S. Capitol. He told the crowd: “What we have in President Trump is a fighter… We will not quit fighting.” ⁰¹

The next day Paxton posted on Facebook that the people who stormed the Capitol “were not Trump supporters” and had “been confirmed to be Antifa.” PolitiFact rated the claim Pants on Fire, finding his sources were a deleted tweet and a news article that was later retracted. ⁰⁴

Paxton’s office withheld all of his emails and texts from Jan. 5 to Jan. 11, 2021, calling them confidential. ⁰¹ In January 2022, the Travis County District Attorney’s office found he had violated the Texas Public Information Act. ⁰² On June 27, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court ruled for Paxton, holding that attorney-client privilege covered the records and that only that court can review whether statewide executive officials comply with the records law. ⁰³

Why it matters

Texans still cannot see what the state’s attorney general was doing and saying in official communications the week of Jan. 6. ⁰³

The ruling in Paxton’s favor also limits how the public can use the courts to force statewide officials to release public records. ⁰³

What the sources show

Reporting by the Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News and Texas Tribune documents the remarks and the records request. ⁰¹ The Travis County DA’s finding and the 2025 Texas Supreme Court ruling are documented in Texas Tribune reporting. ^{02 03} PolitiFact reviewed the Jan. 7 social media post. ⁰⁴