Four whistleblowers who accused Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of bribery and other misconduct issued a detailed rebuttal Monday to what they called "numerous false and misleading public statements" made by Paxton in recent weeks.
The four former high-ranking officials in Paxton's agency said they had hoped to let their fight play out in court, where their whistleblower lawsuit argues that they were fired in retaliation for reporting illegal activities to the FBI and other authorities.
"The people of Texas deserve the truth," the four former officials said in a joint statement. "The most basic qualifications of an attorney general are respect for truth and respect for the law. Ken Paxton has neither."
Paxton, facing three Republican opponents in the March 1 GOP primary, has dismissed the whistleblowers as rogue employees who worked to stifle a legitimate investigation into complaints made by Austin real estate investor Nate Paul.
In recent campaign-related appearances and interviews, Paxton has gone further, complaining that his accusers didn’t come to him and explain their concerns before contacting the authorities in September 2020. Paxton also said he still doesn't know the specific allegations made against him.
"This is not true," the whistleblowers said, adding that their lawsuit lists specific dates when they and four other top officials "confronted" Paxton about their concerns several months before turning to law enforcement.
The whistleblower lawsuit also...
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