BOSTON, June 11 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Thursday blocked Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from continuing to pursue a lawsuit against the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue over its donation practices, saying he was retaliating against it for helping raise money for his opponent in the race for a U.S. Senate seat.
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston issued a preliminary injunction at the behest of ActBlue, which argued Paxton infringed its free speech rights by suing the organization in April while campaigning against Democrat James Talarico for a Senate seat up for grabs in November’s election.
Stearns, who was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton, said Paxton had a “well-known history of filing retaliatory lawsuits,” which continued with his filing of a lawsuit against ActBlue aimed at suppressing political speech in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
“The truth is plain and captured in Paxton’s own declarations: The lawsuit was filed in retaliation for (and in an attempt to suppress) ActBlue’s efforts to fund Talarico’s campaign,” Stearns wrote.
Lawrence Oliver, the chief legal officer of Massachusetts-based ActBlue, said in a statement the ruling “affirms that political fundraising is core to free speech and protected by the First Amendment.”
“The court clearly chose the Constitution over partisan politics,” he said.
Paxton’s spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment.
Paxton’s lawsuit stemmed from one of several Republican-backed probes into ActBlue, which President Donald Trump last year directed the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate along with other online fundraising platforms.
Paxton alleges ActBlue violated Texas law by misleading consumers about its fundraising processes when it told Congress in 2024 it had stopped accepting donations via gift cards and foreign prepaid debit cards, only to quietly resume gift card donations.
The group’s actions facilitated illegal campaign contributions by foreign nationals who could conceal their identities, according to the lawsuit, and as a result ActBlue should be forced to pay penalties and be blocked from accepting gift card donations.
After Paxton filed that case in a Texas state court, ActBlue filed its federal case, arguing he was trying to retaliate against a political foe in violation of the First Amendment following fundraising announcements by Talarico, who has used ActBlue to raise millions of dollars.
Since its founding in 2004, ActBlue has helped raise $19 billion for Democratic candidates and causes.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Jacqueline Wong)
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