ActBlue, the fundraising platform used by Democrats, filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in federal court Friday.
The lawsuit aims to stop Paxton from launching an investigation and filing his own lawsuits against the organization, which it called an "unlawful retribution."
"Paxton's decision to use his government office to target ActBlue with legal sanctions as retribution for its protected speech and political association is an affront to the Constitution and must not be tolerated," the lawsuit read.
Paxton's lawsuit against ActBlue alleges widespread donor fraud and seeks more than $1 million in damages as congressional Republicans ramp up a parallel investigation into the organization.
The suit, filed in Tarrant County Court, points to a New York Times report about ActBlue that prompted Republican committee chairmen to say the platform made misleading statements about its fraud prevention practices, according to the New York Post.
The filing also stated that ActBlue continued accepting prepaid debit cards, which it described as posing an even greater risk of unlawful contributions than cash.
"Among other misrepresentations, despite knowing — and representing to regulators — that resuming its acceptance of gift cards would open the door to election influence 'from high-risk/sanctioned countries' and enable foreign nationals and other ineligible persons to make unlawful contributions to federal and state candidates, ActBlue went back to accepting them," the 30-page filing stated.
ActBlue said Paxton's lawsuit is an attempt to intimidate and harass political opponents, a violation of the First Amendment.
It claims his lawsuit is rife with "false and inflammatory allegations," saying that its investigators' efforts to use gift cards on its platform were repeatedly rejected by its automated tools.
Paxton is in a Republican runoff against Sen. John Cornyn. The winner faces Democrat James Talarico.
ActBlue alleges that after Talarico said he raised more than $2 million in 24 hours using their organization, Paxton launched his investigation.
The lawsuits come as House Republicans intensify their probe into ActBlue, demanding documents they say the group has failed to provide and warning of potential consequences if it does not comply.
In a letter sent Tuesday to ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones, the Republican chairmen of the House Administration, Judiciary, and Oversight committees said recent reporting raised concerns about the organization's internal practices and transparency, including "misleading statements and noncompliance with our subpoenas."
Reuters contributed to this report.
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