SpaceX sues Paxton, Texas county over public records

SpaceX filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and Grimes County to block the release of the company’s public records, according to court records.

The lawsuit requested a temporary restraining order be issued to prevent Grimes County from releasing records to two of the county’s residents, Marie Egyed and Vanessa Burzynski, who made requests earlier this year, according to court records obtained by Business Insider .

The lawsuit also asks a judge to issue a permanent block on the county and attorney general’s office from releasing SpaceX’s confidential information.

SpaceX argued in the lawsuit that the records related to the tax agreement contain “confidential information” and “would reveal SpaceX’s negotiating strategy, concessions, and limits to every jurisdiction, competitor, and counterparty with which SpaceX negotiates in the future.”

The Texas Public Information Act requests – filed on behalf of the organization Grimes County Citizens for Responsible Development – concerned the company’s tax abatement application and communications between SpaceX and Grimes County officials about the Terafab project to two residents.

In July, Paxton ruled the county could withhold certain attorney-client communications, but ordered it to release the remaining records, according to CBS affiliate station KBTX .

Terafab was approved in June which provided SpaceX with a tax abatement agreement – waiving the company’s property taxes in exchange it would pay $10 million in the first year and then $20 million per year for a 35-year period.

The project is a joint venture between Tesla and Intel aimed at responding to expected growing global demands for increased supply of semiconductor chips.

The facility where the Terafab project will be is described by SpaceX as “a vertically integrated factory with more than 100 million square feet of manufacturing space” and “will house the manufacturing, packaging, and testing of advanced logic and memory devices.”

Paxton’s office did not respond to The Hill’s request for immediate comment.