The Texas Supreme Court has denied Attorney General Ken Paxton's motion to end a lawsuit brought forward by a group of former employees who were terminated after reporting the Republican to the FBI.
The court’s late Friday ruling means Paxton will have to answer questions under oath in the case that prompted his impeachment last year.
Paxton’s office didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
In a statement issued shortly after the ruling, attorneys for whistleblowers Blake Brickman, Ryan Vassar, Mark Penley and David Maxwell said, “We look forward to the opportunity to finally place the attorney general and the other witnesses under oath and question them about the facts in our lawsuit.”
The four men worked for Paxton in 2020 when they reported him to the FBI. They accused him of abusing his office to help a political donor.
The men were terminated shortly afterward. The group then filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful termination under the Texas Whistleblower Act.
Last year, both parties announced they had reached a settlement agreement for $3.3 million that included an apology from Paxton for calling them “rogue employees” in a news release.
But the Texas Legislature refused to appropriate the money to fund the settlement during last year’s regular session.
Instead, the House of Representatives launched an investigation into the whistleblower claims that resulted in the historic impeachment of Paxton — the state's first in more that 40 years.
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