Attorney General Paxton said in a statement that he planned to appeal the ruling.

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AUSTIN, Texas — A Travis County judge has ordered the Texas Attorney General's Office to pay nearly $7 million to the whistleblowers in his office who reported him to the FBI.

The whistleblowers initially sued, claiming they were improperly fired.

This stems from the same set of circumstances that led to Ken Paxton being impeached by the Texas House in 2023. Paxton was ultimately acquitted in his trial in the Texas Senate.

In the judgment, the court said that "Plaintiffs have proved liability, damages, and reasonable and necessary attorney's fees by a preponderance of the evidence. Because the Office of the Attorney General violated the Texas Whistleblower Act by firing and otherwise retaliating against the Plaintiffs for in good faith reporting violations of law by Ken Paxton and OAG, the Court hereby renders judgment for Plaintiffs.”

The court also said that the "OAG (Office of the Attorney General), by and through its counsel of record, elected not to dispute the Plaintiffs' lawsuit as to any issue, including any issue of fact in this case as to the claim or damages," and that “Plaintiffs made their reports to law enforcement in good faith, and OAG terminated each of the Plaintiffs because of their reports to law enforcement in violation of the Texas Whistleblower Act”

Tom Nesbitt, the attorney for Blake Brickman and TJ Turner, the attorney for David Maxwell, released a...

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