Four whistleblowers will be able to question Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and three senior aides under oath about abuse of office allegations after a judge ordered the quartet to sit for depositions, the Texas Tribune reports.
Paxton is accused of firing the four whistleblowers for contacting the FBI in 2020 because they believed Paxton was using his office to benefit a friend and donor. Paxton came to a $3.3 million settlement with the four whistleblowers in February, but the Texas state legislature balked at having taxpayers fund the hush-money settlement to silence witnesses of alleged crimes.
Because they had a previous agreement–even though it was rejected by the legislature–Paxton argued that he and his aides should not have to be deposed because the case was settled. But given Paxton did not authority to negotiate the payment, the plaintiffs argued, the settlement was void. The court sided with the plaintiffs. “They lost badly,” one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers told reporters after the hearing. “I don’t put anything past Ken Paxton. There’s no limit to the amount of taxpayer money he will spend to hide from accountability, so I’m sure they’ll try some kind of appeal.”