DALLAS (AP) The Texas bar association is investigating whether state Attorney General Ken Paxtons failed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election based on bogus claims of fraud amounted to professional misconduct.

The State Bar of Texas initially declined to take up a Democratic Party activists complaint that Paxtons petitioning of the U.S. Supreme Court to block Joe Biden s victory was frivolous and unethical . But a tribunal that oversees grievances against lawyers overturned that decision late last month and ordered the bar to look into the accusations against the Republican official.

The investigation is yet another liability for the embattled attorney general, who is facing a years-old criminal case, a separate, newer FBI investigation, and a Republican primary opponent who is seeking to make electoral hay of the various controversies. It also makes Paxton one of the highest profile lawyers to face professional blowback over their roles in Donald Trump s effort to delegitimize his defeat.

A spokesman for the attorney generals office did not respond to requests for comment. Paxtons defense lawyer, Philip Hilder, declined to comment.

Kevin Moran, the 71-year-old president of the Galveston Island Democrats , shared his complaint with The Associated Press along with letters from the State Bar of Texas and the Board of Disciplinary Appeals that confirm the investigation. He said Paxtons efforts to dismiss other states election results was a wasteful embarrassment for which the attorney general should lose his law license.

He wanted to disenfranchise the voters in four other states, said Moran. Its just crazy.

Texas top appeals lawyer, who would usually argue the states cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, notably did not join Paxton in bringing the election suit. The high court threw it out .