Tag Archives: Texas Whistleblower Act

Another Paxton roundup

Posted on June 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The hits keep on coming… So, just how transparent is this Senate trial going to be? Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has promised maximum transparency in the impeachment trial for suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton, but trial rules recently adopted by … Continue reading →

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Here are the Senate impeachment rules

Posted on June 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s go. Suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton will answer to 16 of 20 articles of impeachment at a trial to begin Sept. 5, the Texas Senate said Wednesday night after spending about 20 hours drafting the trial rules in private. … Continue reading →

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Sen. Angela Paxton will be one of her husband’s jurors

Posted on June 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Really, there was no other way this could have ended. After weeks of speculation, state Sen. Angela Paxton announced late Monday that she will attend the impeachment trial of her husband, suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton, the McKinney Republican said … Continue reading →

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Paxton-palooza

Posted on June 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Tuesday is going to be a huge day in the Ken Paxton impeachment saga, as the Senate committee in charge of setting the rules for the Senate trial get around to doing that. There’s been a lot of energy towards … Continue reading →

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Who’s paying for Paxton’s defense?

Posted on June 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A popular question. Suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton has retained for his upcoming Senate impeachment trial two top Houston defense attorneys, who will be assisted by six of his employees who took leaves of absence to help, including four of … Continue reading →

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Nate Paul arrested by feds

Posted on June 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Well, well, well. Nate Paul, the Austin real estate developer central to allegations of illegal conduct by Ken Paxton, Texas’ now-suspended attorney general, was arrested by the FBI on Thursday. Paul was booked into the Travis County Jail at 4:25 … Continue reading →

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Buzbee will do Paxton’s defense

Posted on June 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Sure, why not? Tony Buzbee, a high-profile and boisterously outspoken Houston attorney who defended former Gov. Rick Perry against abuse-of-office charges, will lead suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton’s legal defense team in his impeachment trial. Buzbee had said on his … Continue reading →

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A Paxton threefer

Posted on June 7, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Law professor Quinn Yeargain points out something I’ve not seen discussed elsewhere. But for both ambitious Texas politicians waiting in the wings and eagle-eyed election observers, one of the most important questions is likely who will succeed Paxton if he’s … Continue reading →

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Impeachment in the Senate

Posted on June 4, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Long Trib story about what to expect when the Senate finally takes up the impeachment trial of Ken Paxton. The Senate plans to consider impeachment rules on June 20 and to start the trial by Aug. 28. Yet there are … Continue reading →

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Paxton’s defense team

Posted on June 3, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I feel slightly weird about this. Six top officials and employees at the Texas attorney general’s office have taken a leave of absence to help defend suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton in his impeachment trial this summer. Those employees are … Continue reading →

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DeGuerin and Hardin to prosecute Paxton

Posted on June 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. Prominent lawyers Dick DeGuerin and Rusty Hardin will serve as lead prosecutors for the Texas House in the Senate impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton. The two Houston-based defense attorneys, introduced at a Capitol news conference Thursday, … Continue reading →

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What will Angela do?

Posted on May 31, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a good and balanced article about one of the people who will sit in judgment of Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate: his wife, Angela Paxton. When it came time for the high school teacher and guidance counselor … Continue reading →

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Two thoughts on the whole impeachment thing

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s start with the obvious, which is the “Why now?” question. A lot of people seem to be mystified. Why, after nearly a decade of Ken Paxton’s criming, did the House General Investigations Committee decide to go all scorched earth … Continue reading →

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Meet your Paxton prosecutors

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s officially handed over to the Senate now. The Texas House on Monday named 12 of its members to prosecute its case against impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state Senate. The House announced a Republican-majority board of managers … Continue reading →

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Post-impeachment pre-trial roundup

Posted on May 29, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Some more links of interest relating to the Paxton impeachment-a-thon. I suspect that as more reporters and columnists read the House General Investigations Committee’s report we will see more stories that zoom in on the particulars of his offenses. For … Continue reading →

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House impeaches Paxton

Posted on May 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

For the third time in as many days, I say Wow. In a history-making late-afternoon vote, a divided Texas House chose Saturday to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, temporarily removing him from office over allegations of misconduct that included bribery … Continue reading →

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Impeach-a-palooza

Posted on May 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The impeachment debate in the House will happen today. The Texas House intends to take up a resolution to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton at 1 p.m. Saturday, according to a memo from the House General Investigating Committee. Citing Paxton’s “long-standing pattern of abuse of … Continue reading →

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House General Investigations Committee votes to impeach Paxton

Posted on May 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Once again, I say Wow. In an unprecedented move, a Texas House committee voted Thursday to recommend that Attorney General Ken Paxton be impeached and removed from office, citing a yearslong pattern of alleged misconduct and lawbreaking that investigators detailed … Continue reading →

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House General Investigations Committee goes hard after Paxton

Posted on May 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. A Texas House committee heard stunning testimony Wednesday from investigators over allegations of a yearslong pattern of misconduct and questionable actions by Attorney General Ken Paxton, the result of a probe the committee had secretly authorized in March. In … Continue reading →

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Paxton calls on Phelan to resign

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The last few days of a legislative session are always the dumbest days of the session. Attorney General Ken Paxton said Tuesday that state House Speaker Dade Phelan should resign, accusing him of presiding over his chamber “in a state … Continue reading →

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No Paxton settlement money in the budget

Posted on May 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

The Lege takes a stand. Texas budget negotiators want to ban Attorney General Ken Paxton from using state funds to pay a $3.3 million whistleblower settlement. This week, they adopted a provision that would bar the Office of the Attorney General from using … Continue reading →

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The Lege still doesn’t want to pay for Paxton’s whistleblower sins

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Who can blame them? Now midway through the legislative session, Paxton and state lawmakers are at a standstill, and taxpayers are caught in the middle. Lawmakers have so far declined to include the settlement money in any budget bills, while … Continue reading →

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The whistleblowers’ un-settlement

Posted on March 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Plot twist! The whistleblowers who sued Attorney General Ken Paxton say they’re headed back to court unless he agrees that the Legislature must approve their proposed $3.3 million settlement before the current legislative session ends in May. They are the … Continue reading →

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Paxton makes his plea to the Lege

Posted on February 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s more accurate to say that one of his assistants pleaded for him while he mostly sat silent, but whatever. Days after the Texas house speaker openly opposed using taxpayer dollars to settle a whistleblower suit against Attorney General Ken … Continue reading →

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Why should Ken Paxton’s whistleblowers suffer for his sins?

Posted on February 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the question their lawyers ask in a DMN op-ed. The whistleblower suit is currently pending at the Texas Supreme Court on appeal of an esoteric argument made by the attorney general. Recently, the Office of the Attorney General and … Continue reading →

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So will the Lege pay off Paxton’s whistleblowers or not?

Posted on February 19, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s maybe a bit more complicated than I thought at first. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan says he is against using taxpayer money to pay Attorney General Ken Paxton’s $3.3 million settlement agreement in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by four … Continue reading →

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Paxton settles with whistleblowers

Posted on February 11, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Meh. Attorney General Ken Paxton and four of his former top deputies who said he improperly fired them after they accused him of crimes have reached a tentative agreement to end a whistleblower lawsuit that would pay those employees $3.3 … Continue reading →

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Paxton seeks settlement with some of the whistleblower plaintiffs

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Very interesting. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s legal team is in settlement negotiation talks with three of the four former employees who filed a whistleblower lawsuit against him for firing them after they accused Paxton of criminal acts. Paxton’s lawyers, … Continue reading →

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Where are we with the Paxton whistleblower lawsuit?

Posted on June 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We are in the familiar position of waiting for the drawn-out appeals process to conclude. Pull up a chair and make yourself comfortable. The appeals process has grown a bit longer in state Attorney General Ken Paxton’s effort to dismiss a whistleblower lawsuit by … Continue reading →

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Abbott and Patrick ask SCOTx to take up Paxton’s whistleblower appeal

Posted on April 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

They sort of have a point, but they should still butt out. Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Monday urged the Supreme Court of Texas to take up Attorney General Ken Paxton’s appeal to throw out a … Continue reading →

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I regret to inform you that Ken Paxton may not be an honest broker

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

You should maybe be sitting down for this. The whistleblowers who sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after he fired them for accusing him of bribery and abuse of office are speaking out against him publicly for the first time … Continue reading →

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Paxton asks Supreme Court to toss that pesky whistleblower lawsuit

Posted on January 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Same argument, different court. Either Ken Paxton can be held accountable, or he gets a free pass to do whatever he wants. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked the Texas Supreme Court to toss out a whistleblower lawsuit by … Continue reading →

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Third Court rejects Paxton attempt to kill whistleblower lawsuit

Posted on October 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Good. A state appeals court found Thursday that former deputies of Attorney General Ken Paxton who were fired after accusing the Republican official of abusing his office are protected under the state’s whistleblower law, allowing their lawsuit against Paxton to … Continue reading →

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Appeals court appears skeptical about Paxton’s whistleblower defense

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

As well they should be. A panel of Texas 3rd Court of Appeals justices expressed skepticism of an argument from Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawyers on Wednesday that he is exempt from the state’s whistleblower act because he’s not a … Continue reading →

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