Texas AG patches up with former aides who reported him to the FBI

DALLAS – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton agreed to apologize and pay $3.3 million in taxpayer money to four former employees who accused him of corruption in 2020, kicking off an ongoing FBI investigation into the three-term Republican.

Under the terms of the preliminary lawsuit filed on Friday, Paxton pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery and malpractice, which he denied for years and called politically motivated.

But Paxton has pledged to issue a notable public apology to some of his previously trusted advisers, whom he fired or forced to leave after they reported him to the FBI. He called them “fraudulent employees” after they accused Paxton of misusing his office to help one of his campaigners, who also hired a woman whom the attorney general admitted to having an extramarital affair with.

The Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a voicemail message asking for comment on Friday.

Both parties signed a mediation agreement, which was filed in the Texas Supreme Court, which will be followed by a longer formal settlement.

“Attorney General Ken Paxton acknowledges that the plaintiffs did what they believed was right and apologizes for calling them ‘fraudulent employees,'” the court record reads.

In all, eight senior Paxton employees joined the emergency uprising in 2020 and either resigned or were fired. A settlement was reached with four of them, who sued under the Texas disclosure law.

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The payout would not come from Paxton’s own pocket, but from state funds, meaning it would still need approval from the GOP-controlled Texas legislature.

The settlement of the case, which Paxton’s office has been fighting in court for years, means he will avoid civil testimony at a time when federal and prosecutors’ corruption investigations remain open. In return, the Attorney General’s Office agreed to remove from its website an October 2020 press release condemning Paxton’s accusers and to issue a statement of repentance from former employees David Maxwell, Ryan Vassar, Mark Penley and James Blake Brickman.

The settlement also prevents Paxton from seeking to overturn a 2021 appeals court ruling that the state whistleblower law applies to the attorney general.

The agreement does not contain any provisions that limit the ability of Paxton’s accusers to make public statements or cooperate with federal investigators.

The deal comes more than two years after Paxton employees accused him of misusing his office to help Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, whose business was also under federal investigation. The allegations centered on Paxton hiring an outside lawyer to investigate Paul’s allegations of FBI misconduct.

Paxton and Paul were generally in denial of wrongdoing, and neither was charged with a federal crime.

In the aftermath of the riot, an Associated Press investigation in September found that Paxton’s agency had lost ground and seasoned lawyers had quit due to practices they said aimed at biased legal work, rewarded loyalists, and stifled dissent.

But the investigation, allegations and a separate 2015 securities fraud indictment, for which Paxton has yet to face trial, have done little to hurt him politically. He handily defeated challenger George P. Bush in the contested GOP primary last spring, decisively defeated his Democratic opponent to secure a third term in November, and filed ongoing legal complaints against Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.

Last month, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, sworn in to Paxton for another four years, called it a soft call during the midterms to continue supporting him.

“I supported Ken Paxton because I thought the way he runs the attorney general’s office was the right way to run the attorney general’s office,” Abbott said.