DALLAS — Attorney General Ken Paxton is facing a ticking clock as he is set to testify out of court on Thursday. This week's deposition comes after months, years, of legal challenges in hopes of avoiding a deposition.
"They will appeal this one as well. They'll try to get this deposition, if not quashed, set back," said Cal Jillson, who teaches political science at SMU.
Paxton's attempts to avoid a deposition take us to Monday with another attempt. Last week Paxton requested the Third Court of Appeals to step in. On Monday Paxton is appealing to the Texas Supreme Court. The OAG's office responded by writing they were hopeful 'to put a stop to a Travis County judge’s lawless orders requiring unnecessary and harassing depositions in a case brought by four disgruntled former employees."
The OAG's office calls the case against him 'meritless,' 'expensive,' 'time-consuming' and 'biased.'
"He would be in danger of lying and being convicted of perjury which is a very serious crime. This is a muddle," said Jillson.
This all stems from a lawsuit by four of his top aides accusing him of overstepping and abusing his power as the state's top attorney. Paxton did not contest liability or the allegations, which many saw as another move to side-step the deposition.
"I felt like to the whole Senate, it was disrespectful. I wasn't told the truth. I was misled," said Springer.
Last week outgoing Sen. Drew Springer of Cooke County called on the Senate to explore a re-do of Paxton's impeachment trial. Springer is one of sixteen Senators who voted to acquit him.
"You either need to go on record, sit down for a deposition, and answer truthfully. If you don't want to do that, you need to resign," Springer said.
It is unclear when the Texas Supreme Court will answer Paxton's appeal. But it would need to be before Thursday, the day the Attorney General has been dreading, and his opponents have been dreaming of.
"As the evidence continues to pile up and to clarify and he admits that some of the charges that were true he continues to be an albatross across the necks of the Texas Republican party," said Jillson.
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