A Travis County state District Court judge has again rejected a motion by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to halt a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by former top aides in his office, allowing previously scheduled depositions and settlement talks to move forward.
In a last-ditch move by Paxton to overturn the District Court's order compelling him to testify under oath on the situation that led four of his former top deputies to complain to the FBI about Paxton's possible misconduct in helping a friend and campaign donor, the Wednesday ruling by state District Judge Jan Soifer keeps in place Paxton's previously scheduled deposition on Feb. 1.
Paxton has unsuccessfully sought to block his testimony under oath in the district, appeals and state supreme courts.
Specifically, Paxton's attorney, Bill Helfand, sought an emergency ruling to negate Soifer's Jan. 19 order compelling depositions by him and several top aides in his office, an order that was handed down one day after Paxton unexpectedly filed a motion signaling his intent to accept a final ruling in the case and no longer contesting the whistleblowers' accusations.
Through two court filings attempting to quash the depositions in the past week, Paxton's team has argued the depositions are unnecessary "because the OAG (Office of the Attorney General) does not and will not dispute liability or damages on Plaintiffs’ sole claim under the Texas Whistleblower Act."
On Wednesday afternoon, Soifer rejected both a request...
; ; ; agreed to pay $17.07 million to settle federal allegations of illegal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices on Friday, marking the Justice Department's first resolution unde...