It seems as though the long-running legal drama between former OAG staffers and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has come to a close. In a decision that favored Paxton, the Texas Supreme Court ordered the Travis County District Court to stop any additional actions that would call for senior OAG officials to be deposed. This court action marks the conclusion of what has been called a resource-intensive and highly contentious legal battle.
Paxton had already tried to end this chapter in January 2024 by asking a final ruling from the trial court and not fighting any claims. The OAG attacked the judge’s decision to order the legal process to continue despite this action, calling it an attempt to “prolong the political charade.” The Supreme Court’s decision was viewed as a remedy for the abuse of judicial authority that had descended into the misappropriation of public funds, according to a statement posted on the OAG’s official website.
When the OAG filed an appeal with the Third Court of Appeals because they were unhappy with the drawn-out litigation, the situation became more complicated. The OAG requested the Texas Supreme Court’s decisive involvement when the appellate process did not produce the expected outcomes. The OAG argued in its writ of mandamus petition for a halt to what they considered an excessive legal struggle, which was made necessary by the Travis County District Court’s actions. The case appears to be nearing a conclusion after the Texas Supreme Court conditionally granted the petition.
This multi-year court battle has its roots in claims of retribution made by former OAG workers who accused Paxton of bribery and abuse of authority, charges that Paxton has strongly denied. The latest Supreme Court decision essentially ends one arena in which these questions were being debated, even if it does not address the truth of those claims. “The Texas Supreme Court conditionally granted the OAG s petition for a writ of mandamus, ordering the Travis County District Court to stop abusing its discretion by attempting to force senior OAG officials to undergo depositions in a case with no pending factual disputes,” according to an official release from the Texas Attorney General.
Although this recent move may not be the end of Paxton’s legal troubles, it does offer a break from the specific legal wrangling between the state’s top lawyer and his former subordinates for the time being. One thing is certain as the dust settles in this specific litigation battle: the ruling by the Texas Supreme Court represents a watershed, one that, for the time being at least, will provide Paxton and the OAG some relief from ongoing legal complications on this front.
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