AUSTIN, Texas — In a defeat for Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Texas Supreme Court lifted the stay on a lawsuit filed by four whistleblowers who contend they were retaliated against for reporting his alleged misdeeds to the FBI.
The Supreme Court did not explain the reasoning for their decision, but in doing so, they let a ruling by an appeals court stand that concluded that Paxton was subject to the whistleblower act.
Paxton had claimed in court filings that as an elected official the whistleblower act did not apply to him. The courts disagreed.
The high court ruling now sends the case back to a Travis County District Court.
“We’re one step closer to a trial,” said Don Tittle, an attorney representing former deputy assistant attorney general Mark Penley, one of the whistleblowers. “We’re one step closer to a trial that Ken Paxton definitely doesn’t want.”
The Supreme Court’s decision comes days after the whistleblowers asked the high court to lift the stay.
“We are looking forward to obtaining a trial setting and to preparing this case for trial as soon as possible,” TJ Turner, an attorney representing whistleblower David Maxwell, a former Texas Ranger who was Paxton’s director of law enforcement.
WFAA has reached out to Paxton’s office for comment on the Supreme Court’s decision.
The stay had been in place since earlier this year when Paxton reached at $3.3 million settlement agreement with the whistleblowers. However, it was contingent on the state legislature approving the settlement.
Rather than approving the settlement, a House committee began investigating the allegations made by the whistleblowers – all of whom were former high-ranking members of Paxton’s senior staff – that the attorney general used his office to benefit his friend and benefactor Nate Paul – allegations that Paxton vehemently denies.
In the waning days of the session, Republicans in the House voted overwhelmingly to impeach Paxton.
However, a Senate impeachment trial concluded almost two weeks ago with the Republican-dominated Texas Senate acquitting Paxton on 16 impeachment articles related to accusations involving Paul.
