AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a new legal filing that aims to end the lawsuit former employees brought against his office. The move comes days after the Texas Supreme Court denied Paxton’s request to block his deposition in the lawsuit from his former top-ranking deputies, who allege Paxton wrongfully terminated them after reporting him to federal authorities.
The whistleblowers requested oral depositions, or sworn testimony, which was mandated by a lower Travis County court in December.
In the filing, Paxton’s attorneys wrote that the Office of Attorney General “has instructed its counsel not to contest this lawsuit.” That means the OAG will not fight accuastions from the whistleblowers that claim Paxton broke the law. In a news release accompanying the filing, Paxton wrote that the move “will enable the trial court to enter a final judgment without any further litigation.”
The filing said that it would be up to the Legislature to approve paying for a potential settlement in the case, adding that doing so would preclude “further unwarranted expense to the people of the State of Texas as well as the disruption to the State’s principal law enforcement arm.”
Both the filing and the news release emphasized Paxton’s belief that he did nothing wrong, noting that he was cleared in his impeachment trial in the Texas Senate.
At torneys for the whistleblowers said they plan to continue pursuing their case.
“There is clearly no length to which Ken Paxton will go to avoid putting his hand on a bible and telling the truth, including confessing to violating the Whistleblower Act and opening up the state’s coffers to an uncontested judgment,” TJ Turner, attorney for whistleblower David Maxwell told KXAN.
If the case moves forward, it would likely be the first time Paxton will be compelled to answer questions about his former top deputies’ allegations that he engaged in bribery and abused his power to help Nate Paul — an Austin real estate developer.
Paul was also served a subpoena and deposition notice last Wednesday, according to court documents.
At the time, attorneys for the whistleblowers celebrated the high court’s decision.
“We look forward to the opportunity to finally place the attorney general and the other witnesses under oath and question them about the facts in our lawsuit,” the whistleblower attorneys said in a joint statement.
The Texas Supreme Court also denied Paxton’s request to dismiss the lawsuit altogether. Justices on the high court did not give reasoning for their decision. However, Justices John Devine and Jimmy Blacklock dissented, asking the lower courts to reconsider the “necessity for, and scope of, those depositions only after depositions of lower-ranking officials have taken place.”
Travis County District Judge Jan Soifer’s December order requires the depositions of Paxton and three of his current top aides to take place by Feb. 9 or earlier.
Background on the lawsuit
This is all part of a lawsuit stemming from 2020 after former high-ranking officials in Paxton’s office were fired after they reported Paxton to the FBI. The employees were whistleblowers and later sued for wrongful termination.
It had been previously settled in February 2023, after all parties agreed the state would pay the whistleblowers $3.3 million to end the case. When Paxton asked the Legislature to fund the settlement, a House committee initiated an investigation of the whistleblowers’ claims. That probe triggered Paxton’s impeachment and temporary suspension from office over the summer before Paxton was acquitted of all 20 articles of impeachment in the September Senate trial.
In a December news release after Judge Soifer’s order, the OAG said the deposition order “would cripple the state’s ability to settle lawsuits,” arguing repeated court rulings to allow the whistleblower lawsuit to continue is ignoring their previous agreement to settle.
“The trial court ignored the mediated agreement and has permitted these litigants to seek unlimited and unprecedented discovery in an already-settled case. Doing so hurts all Texans,” OAG said in a December statement. “It vitiates the certainty litigants should expect in settlement negotiations, and it burdens the judicial system by forcing courts and parties to spend time, money, and resources continuing to litigate their claims—the very costs most litigants pursue settlement to avoid.”
The whistleblower plaintiffs are seeking depositions of Paxton, First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster, Chief of Staff Lesley French Henneke, and Senior Advisor to Attorney General Michelle Smith.
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