Attorney General Ken Paxton today announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ordered sanctions against Marc Elias and other attorneys at Perkins Coie, an international law firm that provides counsel for the Democratic National Committee, for submitting redundant and misleading supplemental filings in their attempt to re-implement straight-ticket voting in Texas. When submitting the supplemental filings, Perkins Coie also failed to notify the Court that a nearly identical previous motion was denied. Failure to disclose this denial violated their duty of candor to the Court. The Court also recommended that Perkins Coie attorneys review the Court’s rules of professional conduct and complete one hour of Continuing Legal Education in the area of Ethics and Professionalism, specifically candor with the court.
“Elias has no valid explanation for the misleading submissions to the Fifth Circuit. Even when they were notified that they violated ethical rules, they refused to withdraw their motion. They were aware of their violations and blatantly chose to ignore them,” said Attorney General Paxton. “I thank the Court for issuing these much-needed sanctions. Perkins Coie cannot continue to mislead the Court, especially in a matter as important as election integrity.”
Read a copy of the sanctions here.