Paxton asks Texas Supreme Court to block sworn testimony in whistleblower case

Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking the Texas Supreme Court to intervene in a lawsuit from his former top aides, asking the high court to block a lower court's order for Paxton to testify in the case.

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking the Texas Supreme Court to intervene in a lawsuit from his former top aides, asking the high court to block a lower court's order for Paxton to testify in the case.

The Office of Attorney General (OAG) filed an emergency motion with the Texas Supreme Court on Monday, asking the high court to quash the whistleblowers' request for oral depositions, or sworn testimony, which was mandated by a lower Travis County court in December.

Following Judge Jan Soifer's order, attorneys representing the state asked the Texas Third Court of Appeals to block the depositions, but their request was denied.

This is all part of a lawsuit stemming from 2020, after former high-ranking officials in Paxton’s were fired after reported Paxton to the FBI. The employees were whistleblowers later sued for wrongful termination.

It had been previously settled in February 2023, after all parties agreed the state would pay the whistleblowers $3.3 million to end the case. When Paxton asked the Legislature to fund the settlement, a House committee initiated an investigation of the whistleblowers’ claims. That probe triggered Paxton’s impeachment and temporary suspension from office over the summer before Paxton was acquitted of all 20 articles of impeachment in the September Senate trial.

The appeal to the highest court in the state is the latest attempt by the attorney general to thwart off efforts to compel his testimony about why he terminated his employees, who accused him of engaging in bribery and abuse of power in order to help Austin real estate investor Nate Paul.

In a news release after Judge Soifer's order, the OAG said the deposition order "would cripple the state's ability to settle lawsuits," arguing repeated court rulings to allow the whistleblower lawsuit to continue is ignoring their previous agreement to settle.

"The trial court ignored the mediated agreement and has permitted these litigants to seek unlimited and unprecedented discovery in an already-settled case. Doing so hurts all Texans," OAG said in a December statement. "It vitiates the certainty litigants should expect in settlement negotiations, and it burdens the judicial system by forcing courts and parties to spend time, money, and resources continuing to litigate their claims—the very costs most litigants pursue settlement to avoid."

The whistleblower plaintiffs are seeking depositions of Paxton, First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster, Chief of Staff Lesley French Henneke, and Senior Advisor to the Attorney General Michelle Smith.

David Barer contributed to this report.