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In yet another sign of turmoil at the embattled Texas Attorney General’s Office, two of Ken Paxton’s top lieutenants have left the agency, just months after they sacrificed their own paychecks to help defend him in his impeachment trial.
Solicitor General Judd Stone and Assistant Attorney General Christopher Hilton resigned “to continue private practice at the Stone Hilton Law Firm,” attorney general spokesperson Paige Willey confirmed in an email on Wednesday. She would not answer questions about when they resigned.
The attorney general’s office also did not answer questions about who would succeed Stone as solicitor general, the state’s top appellate lawyer.
Stone and Hilton were among six attorney general lawyers and one executive assistant who took leave without pay starting in May to help Paxton’s defense team as he prepared to face an impeachment trial in the Texas Senate. The Senate acquitted Paxton of the House’s charges of bribery and misuse of office on Sept. 16. Paxton denied any wrongdoing, calling the proceedings a political witch hunt.
Emails obtained through a public records request by The Texas Tribune show the attorneys, along with others who left to work on Paxton’s defense, were expected to return to the agency after the impeachment trial ended. They all were back — or had plans to be back — by Oct. 9, according to the emails, but...
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