A whistleblower lawsuit against Attorney General Ken Paxton can move forward, the Texas Supreme Court ruled on Friday, setting the stage for the Republican to again face the allegations that spurred his impeachment.

The court rejected Paxton’s request to review and toss the case, which has been on pause since Paxton agreed to a tentative $3.3 million settlement with the four former aides who accused him of accepting bribes and abusing the powers of his office. The agreement withered when the Texas House refused to fund it with taxpayer dollars and instead launched impeachment proceedings.

The whistleblowers asked the court to resume the case after the state Senate acquitted Paxton of all impeachment charges earlier this month.

“We are looking forward to obtaining a trial setting and to preparing the case for trial as soon as possible,” attorneys for the whistleblowers said in a written statement.

If the case goes to trial, Paxton; his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney; and other witnesses who did not testify in the impeachment trial could be forced to do so in court.

Representatives for Paxton, a Republican who won a third term as the state’s top lawyer in 2022, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The attorney general’s office retained a private law firm to help handle the case, and Paxton had previously defended the settlement as a way to save money on future legal costs.

Because the Supreme Court denied Paxton's request for review, a lower...

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