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Ken Paxton’s former aides win $6.6M in whistleblower case

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feeds.texastribune.org – By Ayden Runnels and Jasper Scherer – 2025-04-04 22:41:00

Attorney General Ken Paxton’s former aides win $6.6 million in whistleblower case” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

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A Travis County district court judge on Friday awarded $6.6 million to four former senior aides to Attorney General Ken Paxton who said they were improperly fired after reporting Paxton to the FBI.

Judge Catherine Mauzy stated in her judgment that the plaintiffs — Blake Brickman, Mark Penley, David Maxwell and Ryan Vassar — had proven by a “preponderance of the evidence” that Paxton’s office had violated the Texas Whistleblower Act. Each of the four were awarded between $1.1 and $2.1 million for wages lost, compensation for emotional pain, attorney’s fees and various other costs as a result of the trial.

The judgment also said Paxton’s office did not dispute any issue of fact in the case, which stopped the Attorney General’s office from further contesting their liability. Tom Nesbitt, the attorney for Brickman and Maxwell, said in a statement that Paxton “admitted” to breaking the law to avoid being questioned under oath.

“It should shock all Texans that their chief law enforcement officer, Ken Paxton, admitted to violating the law, but that is exactly what happened in this case,” Nesbitt said in the statement.

In a statement to the Tribune from his office, Paxton called the ruling “a ridiculous judgment that is not based on the facts or the law” and pointed blame at former Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, who led the Texas House effort to impeach him in 2023. “We will appeal this bogus ruling as we continue to clean up Dade Phelan’s mess,” Paxton said in the statement.

The judgment also ordered that the plaintiffs are entitled to additional attorney’s fees if they successfully defend or prosecute appeals, including up to $20,000 per plaintiff for various stages of review at the Supreme Court of Texas.

Late Friday, Brickman criticized Paxton’s intent to appeal the judgment in a post on X, calling the attorney general “ lawless and shameless” and claiming the judgment came because Paxton was avoiding a deposition.

“Paxton now wants to appeal? He literally already admitted he broke the law to @SupremeCourt_TX and the Travis County District Court — all to stop his own deposition,” Brickman wrote.

The case was sparked when eight former aides, including the four plaintiffs, reported Paxton to federal authorities in September 2020 over his relations with Nate Paul, a friend and Austin real estate investor. The whistleblowers accused Paxton of abusing his office to do favors for Paul, including by hiring an outside lawyer to investigate claims made by Paul and providing him confidential law enforcement documents.

In the days and weeks after the whistleblowers met with federal agents — a development they reported to Paxton — the attorney general fired them. Four of them sued Paxton in November 2020, alleging their dismissals were illegal under state law.

Paxton disagreed but offered to settle the suit and pay the whistleblowers $3.3 million. But when Paxton asked the Texas House for the money in 2023, lawmakers wanted him to publicly answer questions about why Texas taxpayers should foot the bill. The House’s ethics committee began investigating Paxton, and in May that year, the chamber impeached him on corruption and bribery charges based heavily on the whistleblowers’ testimony.

House investigators claimed that, in return for favors from Paxton, Paul paid for renovations at an Austin home owned by Paxton and his wife and also employed a woman with whom Paxton was having an extramarital affair.

After a two-week, high-profile trial, the Texas Senate acquitted Paxton of 16 charges and dismissed the remaining four. That trial cost the state roughly $5.1 million, according to a State Auditor’s Office report released in March that was requested by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Months later, in the still-pending whistleblower case in state court, Paxton said he would no longer contest the facts of the case — despite the fact that the allegations by the whistleblowers were similar to the ones his lawyers had vigorously disputed during the impeachment trial.

In November 2024, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Paxton and three of his top deputies did not have to sit for depositions under oath, because Paxton’s agreement not to contest the lawsuit made the sworn testimony unnecessary.

Paxton also dodged a federal lawsuit, the Associated Press reported Thursday, when the Department of Justice declined to prosecute him in the final days of former President Joe Biden’s administration. Still, Paxton levied culpability on Biden in his statement to the Tribune on Friday night, claiming the House’s impeachment efforts were “in collusion with Joe Biden’s corrupt DOJ.”


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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/04/ken-paxton-whistleblower-case-judgment/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

The post Ken Paxton’s former aides win $6.6M in whistleblower case appeared first on feeds.texastribune.org

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‘It means so much,’ Sen. Creighton reflects on impact of passing education savings account bill

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www.kxan.com – John Thomas – 2025-04-26 13:08:00

SUMMARY: Texas Governor Greg Abbott is set to sign a $1 billion education savings account (ESA) program, enabling parents to use public funds for private education. The Texas Senate endorsed Senate Bill 2, which aims to enhance school choice. While supporters highlight benefits for families, critics, including the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus, argue it primarily supports wealthier families and undermines public education. Proponents, like State Sen. Brandon Creighton, assert the investment in public schools will increase. The ESA program will launch in the 2026-27 school year, with lawmakers planning to assess its effectiveness in future sessions.

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The post 'It means so much,' Sen. Creighton reflects on impact of passing education savings account bill appeared first on www.kxan.com

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Texas DPS continues to find missing children, arrest ‘most wanted’ criminals | Texas

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www.thecentersquare.com – By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-26 12:39:00

(The Center Square) – Texas Department of Public Safety officers continue to find missing children and arrest those on its criminal illegal immigrant most wanted list.

With April being “Child Abuse Prevention Month,” DPS troopers have rescued more than 600 children through its Interdiction for the Protection of Children (IPC) Program, DPS said. IPC officers are trained “to identify victims of exploitation, missing children, crimes against children and high-risk threats against children,” DPS said.

Through Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star, DPS troopers rescued more than 900 children illegally brought into the U.S. in Texas alone under the Biden administration, The Center Square reported.

So far this year, DPS and other agencies have arrested 21 Texas 10 Most Wanted fugitives, sex offenders and others, including six sex offenders and seven criminal illegal immigrants – with $25,000 in rewards being paid for tips that yielded arrests, DPS said.

One recent arrest was of a fugitive on Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants List, 46-year-old Mexican national Carlos Ortiz. He was arrested after DPS received a tip through Crime Stoppers.

Ortiz was wanted by authorities in Tarrant County since October 2024 on charges of continuous sexual abuse of a young child. He was arrested at an apartment complex in Haltom City by multiple authorities, including special agents from DPS’ Criminal Investigations Division, Haltom City Police and U.S. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force.

Since 2008, Ortiz had been arrested in Tarrant County for assault causing bodily injury to a family member and driving while intoxicated, according to DPS records.

Another fugitive arrested on Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Criminal Illegal Immigrants List was 25-year-old Honduran national Anderson Ronaldo Reyes Giron. He was arrested in north central Austin and wanted by authorities in Travis County since February for deadly conduct (discharging a firearm) and in Williamson County since March on property theft charges.

He was first arrested under the Trump administration in January 2017 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection “for alien removal.” By August 2024, he was arrested by the Austin Police Department officers for deadly conduct (discharging a firearm) and subsequently bonded out of jail, according to DPS records.

Through the governor’s Public Safety Office, taxpayer money is allocated to Texas Crime Stoppers to offer cash rewards to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders or Criminal Illegal Immigrants. To be eligible for cash rewards, tipsters must provide information to authorities by calling the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477), submitting a tip through DPS website or Facebook page.

“All tips are anonymous – regardless of how they are submitted – and tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using a name,” DPS says.

As offenders are arrested and come off of the lists, others are added.

Two recent additions include U.S. citizens, Rondarrius Evans, 21, of New Boston, to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List and Rodolfo Martinez Jr., 42, to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders List.

Evans is wanted by authorities in Bowie County since last August on two capital murder charges and drug charges. Martinez Jr. is wanted in Harris County since last November for indecency with a child by sexual contact.

Texas Crime Stoppers is offering cash rewards for tips that lead to their arrests.

The post Texas DPS continues to find missing children, arrest ‘most wanted’ criminals | Texas appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com

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El Campo family’s beloved pet pig, Rosie, shot and killed in broad daylight

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www.youtube.com – KPRC 2 Click2Houston – 2025-04-25 22:14:00

SUMMARY: An El Campo family is seeking justice after their pet pig, Rosie, was shot and killed in broad daylight on April 12. Rosie, a 600-pound pet raised like family, was shot while roaming near her home. Neighbor Joe Solless witnessed a white truck firing shots at Rosie, who was struck by three bullets and bled out. The motive remains unclear, but the Wharton County Sheriff’s Office has opened an investigation. Rosie was deeply loved, and her death has left the family devastated, demanding accountability for what they describe as a malicious act, not hunting.

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An El Campo family is seeking answers after their beloved pet pig, Rosie, was shot and killed in broad daylight at their home off FM 441.

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