Texas Supreme Court lets whistleblower lawsuit against Attorney General Paxton continue

The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that a whistleblower lawsuit between state Attorney General Ken Paxton and former employees of his office must be allowed to move forward.

After a Monday petition to the state's high court by four former attorney general's office employees who approached the FBI about Paxton's potential abuse of his office in 2020, an abatement on the suit ordered by the court in February has been lifted.

Their lawsuit, filed under the Texas Whistleblowers Act, prompted an investigation by the Texas House after Paxton requested $3.3 million to settle the case. As a result, the House resoundingly impeached Paxton in May over actions the chamber viewed as abuses of power, leading to a Texas Senate trial in September in which he was later acquitted of all charges.

More: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to settle with four whistleblowers for $3.3 million

"The political trial is over," Blake Brickman, a former deputy attorney general who was among eight top Paxton aides who in September 2020 reported their boss to the FBI, said at a news conference announcing the request Monday to the Supreme Court. "It's time for the case to return to a real court."

Citing the lack of a settlement, whistleblowers wrote they "could not have predicted the events that were about to ensue" as Paxton went to lawmakers for the legislative appropriation.

Since there is no settlement coming, the whistleblowers filing argues their case should not be allowed to stay in a perpetual abatement, a position that the court agreed with on Friday.

The attorney general's office "has never cited, and Respondents have been unable to find, any precedent for a perpetual abatement premised on mere hope or speculation that settlement negotiations might someday succeed," the whistleblowers wrote. "The Court should not impose such an unprecedented abatement here, especially considering that the parties have made no progress whatsoever over the last seven months."

Called "rogue" employees by Paxton at the time he fired the whistleblowers after they approached law enforcement to report his conduct, during Paxton's impeachment trial "rogue" was reiterated time and again by Paxton's legal team, painting the former employees as unwilling to comply with their boss's orders.

State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin, said Friday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that the Supreme Court's ruling indicates otherwise.

"And now it is clear: they are whistleblowers, not rogue employees," said Eckhardt, who served as one of 30 voting jurors during the 10-day impeachment trial.

More: Ken Paxton whistleblowers say they want lawsuit against AG's office to be revived

In making its ruling, the Supreme Court declined to take on the case while unpausing the proceeding, meaning the case will be allowed to continue in a District Court.

"We are looking forward to obtaining a trial setting and to preparing this case for trial as soon as possible," the whistleblowers said in a statement after the court's ruling.

Paxton's office has not responded to an American-Statesman request for comment.

On Monday, Mark Penley, Paxton's former criminal justice deputy, was asked directly if the whistleblowers would prefer trying once more to reach a settlement that the Legislature would sign off on or taking their chances in court, Penley replied: "If they funded then that would be great. If they choose not to, what I'm saying today is I'm ready — and I believe my colleagues are ready — to go back to state District Court here in Travis County and continue with our litigation."

John Moritz contributed to this report

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Supreme Court: Whistleblower lawsuit against Paxton may continue