OPINION AND COMMENTARY
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Attorney General Ken Paxton has for years denied retaliating against whistleblowers who raised charges of corruption and abuse of power. He dragged the state through legal and political turmoil and continues to seek retribution against political enemies.
On Thursday, though, he said: Never mind.
Paxton told a Travis County court he no longer wanted to contest the whistleblowers’ lawsuit. He said he wanted to avoid his office being “distracted by these disgruntled former employees and their self-serving sideshow.”
That’s quite a statement from someone whose entire nine years as AG have been exactly that, a self-serving sideshow. How convenient that his concern for the public and his employees surfaced just after the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Paxton would have to sit for a deposition in the case. It would have been his first time under oath answering questions about favors for Nate Paul and the shabby treatment of brave employees who questioned his deeds.
Paxton was willing to contest the charges for years. He was willing to have taxpayers settle the case for $3.3 million and, as a condition of the deal, apologize to his four former loyalists. He was willing to ask the Legislature for the money. And then, he was willing to put the entire...
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