AG Paxton refutes Islamic groups' lawsuit against Texas in federal court

DALLAS - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed an official response to the lawsuit two Texas Council on American-Islamic Relations chapters filed against the state. 

The council's chapters had claimed Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott were unjustified in the designation of the group as a terrorist organization. 

Paxton responds to CAIR lawsuit

The latest:

Paxton filed Monday his original answer to the lawsuit filed by the DFW and Austin chapters of CAIR, which denies nearly every claim the chapters made in their Nov. 20 argument. 

The AG's answer says the federal court shouldn't hear the case, arguing that the designation Abbott made is a state-level affair which the court has no authority over. He also argues that the regional groups behind the lawsuit are not named in Abbott's proclamation, which names only CAIR itself. 

The answer denies almost every allegation the CAIR chapters made, saying many are speculative. Paxton maintains the state's authority in response to the chapters' legal claims, generally denying overreach by Texas and actual harm to the plaintiffs. 

The answer seeks to have the CAIR chapters' case dismissed and the plaintiffs' relief denied. 

What they're saying:

"Radical Islamist terrorist groups are anti-American, and the infiltration of these dangerous individuals into Texas must be stopped," said Attorney General Paxton. "My office will continue to defend the Governor’s lawful, accurate declaration that CAIR is an FTO, as well as Texas’s right to protect itself from organizations with documented ties to foreign extremist movements."

Texas CAIR chapters' lawsuit

The backstory:

The chapters' lawsuit argued that Abbott improperly used his office to designate the domestic nonprofit as a terrorist or transnational criminal organization without due process and in violation of federal law.

The Nov. 18 proclamation by Abbott designated CAIR as a "successor organization" of the Muslim Brotherhood and a Foreign Terrorist Organization under the Texas Penal Code. The designation subjects the organization to potential civil and criminal penalties, including a prohibition from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas.

CAIR's Litigation Director and General Counsel, Lena Masri, said the organization has successfully sued and defeated Abbott three previous times for attempting to violate the First Amendment by punishing critics of the Israeli government.

CAIR, which was founded in 1994 and is the nation's largest Muslim civil rights organization, stated in the lawsuit that the proclamation is based on "defamatory" and "provably false statements" and finds no support in Texas law.

The organization stressed that it is an independent American nonprofit that operates in full compliance with laws, and is not a member or affiliate of any foreign organization. CAIR's mission is to enhance the public's understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, and promote justice. The group has vocally condemned all forms of bigotry, unjust violence, and terrorism throughout its history.

CAIR's fight to keep tax exemption

Dig deeper:

Early this month, Abbott asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for an investigation into CAIR and the suspension of its status as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization. 

Abbott says official documents refer to CAIR as a "direct subsidiary of the Muslim Brotherhood and as a 'front group' for Hamas in the United States."

CAIR followed up with their own letter to Bessent in response to Abbott's request, saying the governor is targeting the council in response to their lawsuits against him, which they say blocked his attempts to "punish Americans critical of the Israeli government in violation of the First Amendment."