A Travis County district judge has ordered Attorney General and three top aides to sit for depositions in the 3-year-old whistleblower lawsuit against him.
At a hearing Wednesday in Austin, Judge Jan Soifer granted the whistleblowers鈥� motion to compel the depositions of Paxton; Brent Webster, the first assistant attorney general; Lesley French Henneke, chief of staff at the agency; and Michelle Smith, Paxton鈥檚 longtime political aide.
Paxton himself was coincidentally served earlier in the day at a restaurant in Austin, according to a whistleblower lawyer, Tom Nesbitt.
鈥淚n this case, I believe the plaintiffs have shown good cause that these four people have unique and superior knowledge of discoverable information,鈥� Soifer said from the bench, adding that the four people were 鈥渘ot just figureheads鈥� but people who knew about issues 鈥渁t the heart鈥� of the case.
The whistleblowers asked the court last month to force Paxton and his aides to sit for depositions. They said their filing was a last resort after they could not reach an agreement with lawyers for the Office of the Attorney General.
It remains to be seen if Paxton鈥檚 side will further fight the depositions. His office鈥檚 attorney, Bill Helfand, declined to comment to reporters as he left the courthouse.
鈥淭hey lost badly,鈥� Nesbitt told reporters after the hearing. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 put anything past Ken Paxton. There鈥檚 no limit to the amount of taxpayer money he will spend to hide from accountability, so I鈥檓 sure they鈥檒l try some kind of appeal.鈥�
The whistleblowers are four former top deputies 鈥� Blake Brickman, Ryan Vassar, David Maxwell and Mark Penley 鈥� who sued Paxton in 2020, arguing he improperly fired them after they reported him to the FBI. They alleged he was abusing his office to help a wealthy friend and donor, Nate Paul.
They came close to settling with Paxton for $3.3 million in February, but the Texas House balked at using taxpayer dollars for the figure and decided to investigate the underlying claims. That triggered Paxton鈥檚 impeachment by the House in May. The Senate acquitted him after a trial in September.
The whistleblowers sought to restart their lawsuit after the impeachment verdict, and the Texas Supreme Court cleared the way for them to do so. But Paxton鈥檚 office quickly fought the revived lawsuit in Travis County, suing the whistleblowers in neighboring Burnet County to block it.
Paxton鈥檚 lawyers lost in Burnet County and have since abandoned that lawsuit.
Soifer ruled against Paxton鈥檚 side earlier in the hearing, rejecting their motion to enforce the tentative settlement agreement. It had been their latest effort to effectively shut down the case in Travis County by arguing it was already settled.
They have made that argument despite the Legislature still not approving the $3.3 million, one of the provisions of the agreement.
鈥淚t says [it] in plain English,鈥� Soifer said.
When it came to the depositions, Nesbitt argued Paxton鈥檚 testimony was especially relevant. His office has publicly said Paxton is the 鈥渄ecision-maker鈥� for the hiring and firing of employees.
鈥淜en Paxton made these decisions,鈥� Nesbitt said, telling Soifer that it is virtually unheard of for someone to argue in an employment case that the 鈥渄ecision-maker 鈥� somehow doesn鈥檛 have special knowledge, doesn鈥檛 have unique knowledge.鈥�
Helfand argued the four people were protected by the apex doctrine, a legal doctrine that seeks to protect high-level executives from overzealous litigants. Helfand told Soifer she should order the whistleblowers to seek depositions from other people first, and if those do not yield the information they want, they could then address the question of deposing Paxton and the three aides.
Helfand appeared to anticipate an unfavorable ruling and proactively asked Soifer that if she were to order the depositions, they should be 鈥渟everely limited鈥� in time and scope. He also said he would want to depose the plaintiffs first because they carry the burden of proof in the case.
Soifer appeared to reject both requests in her ruling, saying she would allow the depositions by the whistleblowers first and was 鈥渘ot inclined to put any limitations on these depositions.鈥�
The timing of the depositions remains to be seen. After the ruling, Helfand asked the judge if the depositions could wait until after the third week of January, citing personal scheduling conflicts. Nesbitt said their side was OK with that.
As for Paxton's deposition, Nesbitt said it was a coincidence that he was served on the same day of the hearing.
"We鈥檝e been trying to find him for a long time," Nesbitt said. I mean, the dude hides. ... And so we finally found him. We got a tip that he was going to be at a restaurant at a particular time."
Nesbitt did not name the restaurant where Paxton was served. He said Paxton was having "some kind of little holiday lunch" when it happened.
This article originally appeared in at .