Latino rights group wants federal investigation into Texas attorney general over home raids linked to election fraud probe
CNN
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A leading Latino rights group on Monday called on the U.S. Justice Department to investigate Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after his office launched a series of raids that the group said took place at the homes of Democratic activists and leaders over allegations of election fraud.
In a letter to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, the president and CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens called for “immediate action” from the federal agency.
“We believe his conduct constitutes a direct attempt to suppress the Latino vote through intimidation and harassment, in violation of the Voting Rights Act and other federal civil rights laws,” LULAC President Roman Palomares and CEO Juan Proaño wrote in the letter.
The Justice Department confirmed to CNN that it had received the letter, but a spokesperson declined to comment further.
So far, no charges have been filed following last week’s raids. Paxton’s office said search warrants were executed in Frio, Atascosa and Bexar counties as part of what his office described as an election integrity investigation dating back to 2022.
In a statement released last week, the attorney general’s office said its election integrity unit was investigating a case referral from Audrey Louis, District Attorney for the 81st Judicial District of the State, regarding allegations of election fraud and vote harvesting.
“Secure elections are the cornerstone of our republic,” Paxton said in the statement. “We were pleased to assist when the District Attorney referred this matter to my office for investigation. We are fully committed to protecting the security of the ballot box and the integrity of every legal vote. That means holding anyone who commits election crimes accountable.”
Neither Paxton’s office nor the district attorney’s office responded to CNN’s inquiries Monday about the investigation and its details.
Paxton has previously been accused of using intimidation tactics.
He took up the cause of voter fraud after President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, filing a federal lawsuit to overturn the results in four key states. The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed that lawsuit, and the Texas State Bar sued Paxton in 2022 for misrepresenting allegations of substantial voter fraud.
Earlier this year, Paxton went after an El Paso nonprofit that helps migrants, accusing it of facilitating illegal entry into the United States, harboring aliens and human trafficking, before a judge ended his efforts to “trample” the group “without regard to due process or fair play,” according to the judge’s ruling.
He reviewed the medical records of young transgender people — including those some say are protected by patient confidentiality laws — who sought gender-confirming care at out-of-state clinics.
And under the state’s strict abortion ban, he publicly named both an abortion patient and her doctor in an open letter threatening potential first-degree felony prosecution and $100,000 civil penalties.
At a news conference Monday outside the attorney general’s office in San Antonio, LULAC members and Democratic activists condemned the raids and criticized Paxton for launching what they called a campaign of intimidation against Latino voters.
“Attorney General Paxton is using his position of authority to harass and intimidate Latino nonprofits, Latino leaders, and LULAC members,” Palomares said. “This is voter intimidation, pure and simple, and LULAC will fight for the right of Latinos to exercise their right to vote.”
Among those whose homes were raided were Cecilia Castellano, a Democrat running for a seat in the state House of Representatives, a 73-year-old woman and an 80-year-old woman, according to LULAC. At least six LULAC members had their homes raided, Palomares said, according to The Associated Press.
“We don’t go after our grandmothers. We don’t go after our great-grandmothers,” said Domingo Garcia, another LULAC leader. “And we don’t go after them just because they’re trying to vote.”
Castellano told CNN’s Laura Coates Monday night that his phone was confiscated during a search of his home.
“I was shocked. I still am today. (…) I am even more angry because my son was a few meters away from me,” Castellano said.
Lidia Martinez, an 87-year-old activist and LULAC member who has long helped register voters, told reporters at Monday’s news conference that armed agents from Paxton’s office showed up at her home in the early hours of Aug. 20 with a search warrant. She said they told her the search was related to fraud and questioned her for three hours. She said they also forced her to stand outside in her yard, still in her nightgown.
“It was just embarrassing, intimidating and harassing,” she said, growing emotional. “They went through my house.”
She said she was questioned about other LULAC members and called the search a “Gestapo-style raid.” Her devices, personal calendar and voter registration materials were confiscated, according to LULAC.
“I’m not doing anything illegal. I follow the rules of the election office and I’ve never done anything illegal with voter registration or mail-in voting or whatever they’re looking for,” she said. “I don’t know who’s doing this. And I don’t care to know; I have no connection to them. I’m not guilty, but I’m being harassed. I’m sick.”
In the letter to the federal government, LULAC argued that the recent raids reflected a broader pattern of voter intimidation in Latino and black communities.
“Attorney General Paxton’s actions are not isolated incidents, but part of a concerted effort to suppress the growing political power of minority communities in Texas,” the letter states. “These actions are reminiscent of past attempts to intimidate and disenfranchise voters through fear and coercion.”
CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz and Lauren Mascarenhas contributed to this report.
