Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's legal woes continue as the Texas Supreme Court shuts down his latest attempt to avoid deposition in a whistleblower lawsuit. After The Houston Chronicle reported, the court, without explanation, denied an emergency motion to block the depositions. This suit centers on accusations made by four former top deputies claiming Paxton fired them in retaliation for reporting him to the FBI over alleged corruption involving a political donor.
Paxton, who faced impeachment charges last year before being acquitted by the Texas Senate, has continually denied these allegations. These are moves that come after a failed settlement that saw the Texas Legislature refuse to pay out $3.3 million to the fired employees. Paxton's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the same day the Third Court of Appeals, with a Democratic majority, also denied Paxton’s petition to enforce a settlement agreement with the former employees, according to KUT.
This isn’t Paxton's first standoff with the courts. Travis County District Judge Jan Soifer previously ordered the depositions of Paxton and his top aides, including First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster, and Chief of Staff Lesley French Henneke. But, Paxton appealed to the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin, which last week denied emergency relief.
Attorneys for the whistleblowers have expressed their readiness to proceed. “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,” they said in a joint statement.
Tom Nesbitt, attorney for plaintiff Blake Brickman, aptly summed up the situation to The Texas Newsroom, claiming “there’s no limit to the amount of taxpayer money Ken Paxton will try to spend to continue to buy delay.”
Even though Paxton has consistently fought to delay the judicial process, this latest ruling by the appellate court could bring him closer to having to publicly account for his alleged misconduct. The depositions, however, have yet to be scheduled, though a deadline has been set for February 9. The plaintiffs have already served a subpoena and deposition notice to Nate Paul, the real estate investor at the center of the allegations, which is planned for February 21. Whether Paul, like Paxton, will contest this in court remains to be seen.
