The Texas Supreme Court will soon decide whether state Attorney General Ken Paxton and three of his top assistants must sit for depositions in the wrongful termination lawsuit brought by four former employees — a lawsuit that is, for all intents and purposes, over.
That lawsuit dates to 2020, when four former high-ranking political appointees in the Texas attorney general’s office sued the agency, alleging they were fired in violation of the state’s whistleblower law for reporting Paxton to the FBI; the former employees claimed the AG had misused his office to help a friend and campaign donor. The lawsuit’s allegations would later be included in the impeachment charges filed against Paxton, on which he was acquitted by the Texas Senate.
Last Thursday, the attorney general’s office opted to no longer fight the case and filed a motion for judgment to be entered in favor of the four former employees. But rather than take a victory lap, the plaintiffs’ attorney emailed the Travis County court and complained that the AG’s office was not cooperating in efforts to set the previously ordered depositions of the attorney general, first assistant attorney general, the AG office’s chief of staff, and a senior adviser to the attorney general. The Travis County judge presiding over the case ordered those depositions to proceed on Feb. 1, 2, 7, and 9, respectively.
The attorney general’s office sought reconsideration of that order, initially noting that the court had failed to provide it with an opportunity to respond to
