AUSTIN — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that his agency will stop fighting a whistleblower lawsuit by four former top executives who were fired in 2020 after accusing the attorney general of corruption.
In a District Court filing in Travis County, the attorney general’s office informed the judge that Paxton no longer wishes to contest the accusations by whistleblowers who argued that they were improperly fired for reporting their former boss to the FBI for his dealings with an Austin real estate investor now under federal indictment.
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The change of heart came almost one week after the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Paxton, his top deputy, chief of staff and a senior advisor must answer questions under oath about what led to the 2020 firings of the whistleblowers.
Last year, the agency and the whistleblowers agreed to settle the lawsuit, with Paxton apologizing for referring to the whistleblowers as rogue employees and the agency agreeing to pay $3.3 million. The Legislature’s refusal to fund the settlement was the impetus for Paxton’s historic impeachment last year.
The GOP-controlled House accused Paxton of abusing his office, with a majority of the Republican lawmakers voting to impeach him. The Senate, however, split largely along party lines and voted to acquit Paxton, who has pledged to oppose lawmakers who supported his removal from office in the March GOP primary.
In a defiant statement, Paxton again referred to the whistleblowers...
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