Attorney General Ken Paxton sought Thursday to end the long-running whistleblower lawsuit against him — and avoid sitting for a deposition — by saying he would not contest the facts of the case and accept any judgment.
The move came after he appeared to exhaust his options to reverse a Travis County judge’s order that he and three top aides answer questions under oath. The all-GOP Texas Supreme Court ruled against Paxton on that issue last week.
Paxton’s office portrayed the move as one that would finally put an end to a costly and distracting lawsuit. But a lawyer for one of the whistleblowers said the lawsuit was “not over” and Paxton was just trying to delay it further.
“Today, my office acted to end this wasteful litigation by filing an amended answer that — consistent with the previous decision to settle this case — will enable the trial court to enter a final judgment without any further litigation,” Paxton said in a statement.
The whistleblower’s lawyer, Tom Nesbitt, said Paxton’s latest maneuver is “another desperate stunt by Ken Paxton to prevent the truth from coming out.”
“Ken Paxton has never answered questions about his illegal and corrupt conduct,” Nesbitt said. “He is clearly terrified of doing so - even if it means taking a different position now about him breaking the law than he did at his impeachment trial.”
The whistleblowers — four former top deputies — filed suit against Paxton in 2020, alleging they were improperly fired for reporting him to the...
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