The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that state Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, can't be deposed in a whistleblower lawsuit that eventually led to impeachment charges being brought against him last year.
The Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision that Paxton testify in the suit brought by four former attorney general office employees who allege that they were improperly fired or forced out.
Paxton did disagree with the lawsuit. However, his office did not dispute any issue in the suit and agreed to any judgment made in the case, the Supreme Court said.
The Supreme Court also noted that Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the state's GOP-controlled Legislature have expressed a desire to hear testimony from the witnesses before agreeing to appropriate funds to settle the lawsuit.
But the court said forcing Paxton, along with three of his current top aides First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster, Chief of Staff Lesley French Henneke and senior advisor Michelle Smith, to testify earlier could improperly be used for legislative purposes in deciding any appropriation.
The Supreme Court's ruling is conditional upon the lower trial court complying with the decision. But the Supreme Court said it is "confident the trial court will comply" with its ruling.
What Do the Ex-Employees Allege?
The former employees claim their wrongful oustings were due to them alleging to the FBI that Paxton was misusing his office to protect a friend and campaign donor. In turn, this friend was helping the attorney general to conceal an alleged extramarital affair, the former employees claim.
What Has Ken Paxton Said?
Paxton's office said in a statement Friday the former employees' suit was "politically-motivated," calling the Supreme Court's decision a "major win."
"In a major win for the State of Texas, the state Supreme Court has sided with Attorney General Paxton against former OAG employees whose effort to prolong costly, politically-motivated litigation against the agency has wasted public resources for years," the office said.
How Does the Case Link to Paxton's Impeachment?
Under a preliminary settlement, Paxton agreed to apologize to the former employees for calling them "rogue" employees and pay $3.3 million in taxpayer money.
This prompted the state House to reject the request and begin its own investigation, which led to a vote to impeach Paxton on corruption charges based heavily on the former employees' testimony.
The attorney general, however, was later acquitted after a state Senate trial.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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