Austin, Texas
CNN
—
A district court judge awarded $6.6 million combined to four whistleblowers who were fired shortly after they reported Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to the FBI.
“By a preponderance of the evidence,” Travis County Judge Catherine Mauzy wrote in her Friday judgment, the plaintiffs proved liability, damages and attorneys fees in their complaint against the attorney general’s office.
“Because the Office of the Attorney General violated the Texas Whistleblower Act by firing and otherwise retaliating against the plaintiff for in good faith reporting violations of law by Ken Paxton and OAG, the court hereby renders judgment for plaintiffs,” Mauzy wrote.
The court found that the four Paxton aides were fired in retaliation for reporting allegations that he was using his office to accept bribes from an Austin real estate developer who employed a woman with whom Paxton was having an extramarital affair. Paxton has denied accepting bribes or misusing his office to help Nate Paul, the real estate developer.
The judgment also stated that the employees made their reports to law enforcement “in good faith” and that Paxton’s office did not dispute any claims or damages in the lawsuit.
“It should shock all Texans that their chief law enforcement officer, Ken Paxton, admitted to violating the law, but that is exactly what happened in this case,” Tom Nesbitt, an attorney for Blake Brickman, and TJ Turner, an attorney for David Maxwell, said in a joint statement.
In a statement to the media, Paxton, a Republican, called the ruling “ridiculous” and “not based on the facts or the law.” He also said that his office intends to appeal the ruling.
Paxton was at the center of a federal investigation after eight employees reported his office to the FBI in 2020 for bribery allegations. Paxton in 2023 agreed to a $3.3 million settlement and an apology, but no admission of wrongdoing, with four of the whistleblowers. After Paxton asked state lawmakers to fund the settlement, the Texas House rejected his request, conducted its own investigation and impeached him in 2023. He was later acquitted in the state Senate.
In November, the Texas Supreme Court overturned a lower-court ruling that Paxton testify in the lawsuit.
The US Justice Department decided not to pursue its investigation into Paxton in the final weeks of the Biden administration, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
No longer shadowed by the federal corruption investigation that hung over his rising profile in the Republican Party, Paxton is now gearing up for a potential US Senate run. Paxton, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has hinted at challenging GOP Sen. John Cornyn for more than a year but has not said when he will make a decision.
