In the latest high-stakes legal drama engulfing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, his former top aides are bringing the heat as they move to forcibly drag him and his closest allies into court for depositions. The Texas Tribune indicates that lawyers representing the whistleblowers, undeterred by previous stalemates, have filed a motion to compel Paxton and his team to confess under oath.
These eager whistleblowers, who slapped a suit on Paxton after claiming they were unjustly fired for waving red flags to the FBI about suspected bribery, almost managed to quickly settle with the state for a cool $3.3 million earlier this year. However, the spigot of taxpayer dollars was abruptly cranked shut as the Texas House honed in on probing Paxton, with impeachment whispers swelling in the halls according to details from a KVUE report.
The push to deposit Paxton and his squad in the hot seat comes in the wake of a Burnet County judge's spotlight-stealing decision to let the case play out in Travis County. A pivot that could seriously up the ante by granting subpoenas and reviving the case with some newfound verve. "OAG’s effort to resist these straightforward depositions is nothing more than a continuation of OAG’s cynical effort to deny Plaintiffs their right to access to the justice system," the whistleblower lawyers wrote in a desperate plea to cut through the red tape.
A dogged showdown unfolded over four heavy hours in court, with Paxton's camp fighting to have the whistleblower lawsuit extinguished. They allege that the whistleblowers are attempting to conduct a "second impeachment proceeding" through the back door of the courthouse. Judge Evan Stubbs, however, decided against slamming the brakes on the case, saying, “If it were truly, actually and finally settled,” then he added, “then I don’t think we’d be here,” poking holes in Paxton's narrative obtained by KVUE.
The calendar for these high-tension depositions is already penciled in, with Paxton's marking the start on Dec. 12 and those of his inner circle scheduled closely behind.
