Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrongfully fired whistleblowers, judge rules

A district court judge has awarded more than $6 million combined to four whistleblowers in their lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton who were fired shortly after they reported him to the FBI.

“By a preponderance of the evidence,” Travis County Judge Catherine Mauzy says in her judgment, the plaintiffs proved liability, damages and attorney’s fees in their complaint against the attorney general’s office.

“Because the Office of the Attorney General violated the Texas Whistleblower Act by firing and otherwise retaliating against the plaintiff for in good faith reporting violations of law by Ken Paxton and OAG, the court hereby renders judgment for plaintiffs,” Mauzy states.

The court found that the former employees were fired in retaliation for reporting allegations that Paxton was his using his office to accept bribes from an Austin real estate developer who employed a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.

The judgment also stated that the employees made their reports to law enforcement “in good faith” and that Paxton’s office did not dispute any claims or damages in the lawsuit.

“After litigating for more than four years due to OAG’s many delay tactics, Ken Paxton finally admitted to breaking the law to avoid being questioned under oath, but also because he had no defense,” said Tom Nesbitt, an attorney for plaintiff Blake Brickman and TJ Turner, an attorney for David Maxwell, in a joint statement. “It should shock all Texans that their chief law enforcement officer, Ken Paxton, admitted to violating the law, but that is exactly what happened in this case.”

The Office of the Texas Attorney General did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

Paxton was at center of federal investigation after eight employees reported his office to the FBI in 2020 for bribery allegations. He agreed to settle the lawsuit for $3.3 million that would be paid by the Legislature. However, the House rejected his request and conducted its own investigation and impeached Paxton in 2023. He was later acquitted in the Senate.

In November, the Texas Supreme Court overturned a lower-court ruling that Paxton testify in the lawsuit.

The U.S. Justice Department decided not to pursue its investigation into Paxton in the final weeks of the Biden administration, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

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Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer and Eric Tucker contributed to this report from Washington.

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Nadia Lathan is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.