(Texas Tribune) – Attorney General Ken Paxton will not have to appear for a deposition in a lengthy lawsuit filed by four former senior aides who said he wrongfully fired them after they reported him to the FBI, it ruled Texas Supreme Court Friday.

It’s a victory for Paxton, who has avoided testifying on allegations of corruption, bribery and abuse of office despite this civil lawsuit, an impeachment trial and a federal criminal investigation.

The whistleblowers attempted to question Paxton and three of his current top deputies under oath: First Assistant Brent Webster, Chief of Staff Lesley French and Senior Advisor Michelle Smith. But the Supreme Court quashed a trial court order that scheduled these depositions.

The judges said that because the attorney general’s office has agreed not to contest the lawsuit, which alleges Paxton violated the Whistleblower Act, their sworn testimony is not necessary.

“While we agree with the former employees that OAG’s concessions do not preclude all discovery, we agree with OAG that the court abused its discretion by ordering the testimony of these four witnesses without considering that the only factual issue about which these witnesses are likely to provide information – OAG’s liability under the Whistleblower Act – is now undisputed,” the opinion said.

The decision was unanimous, although judge Evan Young did not participate.

The four whistleblowers – Blake Brickman, Mark Penley, David Maxwell and Ryan Vassar – were among a group of senior advisers who reported Paxton to the FBI in September 2020, concerned about what they perceived as his increasingly bizarre and inappropriate behavior toward a friend and Austin. real estate investor named Nate Paul. In the days and weeks after their meeting with federal agents, who reported them to Paxton, the attorney general fired them.

The current status of the federal criminal investigation is unknown, but court documents from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals show that Justice Department attorneys in June attempted to secure testimony from witnesses in a grand jury investigation involving Paxton .

The whistleblowers sued Paxton in November 2020, claiming their firing was illegal under state law. Paxton disagreed, but offered to settle the lawsuit and pay the whistleblowers $3.3 million. However, to finance that settlement, Paxton needs an appropriation from the Legislature.

When he asked the Texas House for the money in 2023, lawmakers wanted him to publicly answer questions about why Texas taxpayers should foot the bill. The House Ethics Committee began an investigation into him.

In May of that year, the Texas House indicted Paxton on corruption and bribery charges, based largely on the whistleblowers’ testimony. They alleged that Paxton abused his office to do favors for Paul, including hiring an outside attorney to investigate Paul’s claims, providing Paul with confidential law enforcement documents, intervening in a lawsuit involving a charity and two of Paul’s companies were involved, and by providing advice to Paul’s lawyers. used to delay foreclosures on various properties.

In return, House investigators alleged that Paul paid for renovation work on an Austin home owned by Paxton and his wife, and that he also employed a woman with whom Paxton had an extramarital affair.

After a high-profile two-week trial, the Texas Senate acquitted Paxton of sixteen charges and dismissed the remaining four.

However, the whistleblower case remains. Paxton said in January that he would no longer dispute the facts of the case — despite the fact that the whistleblowers’ allegations were similar to those his lawyers had vigorously disputed during the impeachment trial.

Paxton said he was eager to put an end to the “wasteful lawsuit” and “would not allow my office to be distracted by these disgruntled former employees and their selfish sideshow.” He said the settlement should not be construed as an admission of guilt.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/22/ken-paxton-whistleblower-lawsuit-texas-attorney-general/.

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