A crook any way you look
Attorney General Ken Paxton and his top aides will be forced to testify in a lawsuit accusing Paxton of violating the state’s whistleblower protection law after the Texas Supreme Court on Friday denied an emergency motion to block the depositions.
The case centers on allegations by four of Paxton’s former top deputies that he fired them out of retaliation after they reported him to the FBI for alleged corruption in 2020. They alleged that he accepted bribes in exchange for abusing his office to help a friend and campaign donor, financially troubled real estate investor Nate Paul.
Those allegations became the basis for impeachment charges filed by the majority-Republican Texas House last year; the Texas Senate later acquitted the third-term Republican.
The state Supreme Court justices did not explain the denial. Justice Evan Young did not participate.
Two justices — John Devine and Jimmy Blacklock — dissented in part, saying they would have ordered the plaintiffs to depose lower-ranking officials first and then let the district court reconsider the necessity of Paxton and his top aides’ testimony.
With the high court’s denial Friday, Paxton and his aides have run out of appeals. Paxton’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
See here for the previous update. SCOTx did not waste any time on this, which I appreciate. Like the whistleblowers’ attorneys, I look forward to seeing this asshole get put under the microscope; the attorneys expressed this opinion more delicately than I did. The deposition will happen sometime before February 9. Nate Paul has also been served and his testimony is scheduled for February 21, assuming he doesn’t try his luck with the courts to stop it. Good luck with that, pal. Reform Austin has more.
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