3rd Court of Appeals Rejects Paxton’s arguments to Shut Down Whistleblower Lawsuit
Breaking: The Texas Third Court of Appeals has denied Paxton’s appeal to block whistleblower subpoenas for his testimony. Paxton so far has avoided testifying in the civil case from employees he fired for reporting him to the FBI
History
December 20th
Ken Paxton and aides were ordered to answer questions under oath in whistleblower case.
The four whistleblowers asked the court in November 2023 to force the AG and his aides to sit for deposition, requiring them to answer questions under oath related to the allegations of bribery and corruption.
Case originations:
The whistleblower case against Paxton is more than three years old. The four plaintiffs are James “Blake” Brickman, Paxton’s former policy director; David Maxwell, former head of law enforcement; Mark Penley, former head of criminal justice; and Ryan Vassar, former deputy attorney general for legal counsel.
Several were part of a group of top-level executives at the AG’s office who reported Paxton to the FBI regarding his dealings with Paul, who is under indictment for wire fraud charges and other allegations related to alleged financial crimes involving his real estate firm, World Class Holdings.
The whistleblowers’ allegations include that Paxton had staff create a legal opinion to prevent the foreclosure sales of several of Paul’s properties. They allege Paxton secretly hired an outside investigator who worked hand-in-hand with Paul’s attorney to serve subpoenas on the real estate investor’s legal enemies.
The whistleblowers’ accounts formed the foundation of numerous articles of impeachment that the House approved overwhelmingly in May. The Senate cleared Paxton of all charges in September in a politically charged trial that widened a schism between Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan.