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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC held at the Hilton Anatole on July 11, 2021 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images.)
The Texas Supreme Court gave a last-minute reprieve to impeached Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, ruling Tuesday that Paxton does not have to sit for a deposition in the lawsuit filed by staffers-turned-whistleblowers. The same court had ruled in September that the lawsuit could go forward against Paxton, despite his having been impeached and acquitted on more than a dozen articles relating to alleged official misconduct.
Four former top officials — former Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice Mark Penley, former Deputy Attorney General for Policy and Strategy Initiatives Blake Brickman, former Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel Ryan Vassar, and David Maxwell, the former director of the Office of Attorney General’s (OAG) enforcement division — sued Paxton in November 2020 for wrongful termination after they accused Paxton of bribery and other crimes.
The plaintiffs alleged in their complaint that real estate investor and Paxton donor Natin “Nate” Paul exerted improper influence over the attorney general. Paul was federally indicted in June on financial fraud charges and faces up to 30 years in prison. During the impeachment process, Paxton was said to have “turned the keys of the office of attorney general over to Nate Paul so that Mr. Paul could use the awesome power of the peoples’ law firm to punish and harass perceived enemies.”
Even Texas Republicans have said Paxton is “not fit to be the attorney general for the state of Texas,” because of his misconduct that had, “nothing to do with implementing conservative policy.” Paxton denied wrongdoing and argued that the articles of impeachment against him should be dropped because support from voters — who elected him to office despite multiple reports of his alleged misconduct — should “override” the impeachment process.
Ultimately, Paxton was acquitted after a two-week impeachment trial. The wrongful termination lawsuit, however, is still underway. Although a Travis County judge ordered the attorney general to sit for a deposition in a Jan. 19 ruling, the Texas Supreme Court blocked Paxton’s testimony Tuesday without specific reasoning.
Paxton had been scheduled to give a deposition on Thursday in Austin, but told the state top court that he should not be forced to answer questions under oath because he no longer intends to dispute the whistleblowers’ allegations and would accept any judgment against him.
The court’s ruling is temporary and attorneys for the plaintiffs have until Feb. 29 to present arguments as to why Paxton should be ordered to submit to questioning under oath.
