CAIR-Texas seeks discipline probe of Paxton over EPIC City lawsuit

The Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Thursday called on the State Bar of Texas' Commission for Lawyer Discipline to investigate Attorney General Ken Paxton over allegations he pressured a civil servant into approving a baseless lawsuit against the East Plano Islamic Center and its proposed EPIC City housing development.

The call follows an Oct. 12 Texas Monthly investigation reporting that Governor Greg Abbott's advisers developed a plan for a securities-based lawsuit against the Muslim-led project and pressured a key department to support it even though it found no legal basis, according to CAIR. The report said former Texas State Securities Board commissioner Travis Iles concluded the evidence did not establish that EPIC City's real estate transactions were securities under Texas law, and that anti-Muslim claims about the project helped fuel government scrutiny. Abbott publicly declared that “Sharia law is not allowed in Texas” in response to the controversy.