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   Investigators detail years of alleged misconduct by Texas AG Ken Paxton in   
   stunning House committee hearing   
      
   Many allegations against Paxton were already known, but the airing of them   
   revealed the scope of the investigation by the committee, which has the   
   power to recommend censure or impeachment.   
      
   by Zach Despart and James Barragán May 24, 20232 hours ago   
      
      
      
      
   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 painstaking and methodical detail in a rare public forum, four   
   investigators for the House General Investigating Committee testified that   
   they believe Paxton broke numerous state laws, misspent office funds and   
   misused his power to benefit a friend and political donor.   
      
   Their inquiry focused first on a proposed $3.3 million agreement to settle   
   a whistleblower lawsuit filed by four high-ranking deputies who were fired   
   after accusing Paxton of accepting bribes and other misconduct.   
      
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   Committee Chair Andrew Murr said the payout, which the Legislature would   
   have to authorize, would also prevent a trial where evidence of Paxton’s   
   alleged misdeeds would be presented publicly. Committee members   
   questioned, in essence, if lawmakers were being asked to participate in a   
   cover-up.   
      
   “It is alarming and very serious having this discussion when millions of   
   taxpayer dollars have been asked to remedy what is alleged to be some   
   wrongs,” Murr said. “That’s something we have to grapple with. It’s   
   challenging.”   
      
   Many of the allegations detailed Wednesday were already known, but the   
   public airing of them revealed the wide scope of the committee’s   
   investigation into the state’s top lawyer and a member of the ruling   
   Republican Party. The investigative committee has broad power to   
   investigate state officials for wrongdoing, and three weeks ago the House   
   expelled Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City, on its recommendation.   
      
   In this case, it could recommend the House censure or impeach Paxton — a   
   new threat to an attorney general who has for years survived scandals and   
   been reelected twice despite securities fraud charges in 2015 and news of   
   a federal investigation into the whistleblowers’ claims in 2020.   
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   Erin Epley, lead counsel for the investigating committee, said the inquiry   
   also delved into the whistleblowers’ allegations by conducting multiple   
   interviews with employees of Paxton’s agency — many of whom expressed   
   fears of retaliation by Paxton if their testimony were to be revealed — as   
   well as the whistleblowers and others with pertinent information.   
      
   According to state law, Epley told the committee in a hearing at the   
   Capitol, a government official cannot fire or retaliate against “a public   
   employee who in good faith reports a violation of law … to an appropriate   
   law enforcement authority.”   
      
   The four whistleblowers, however, were fired months after telling federal   
   and state investigators about their concerns over Paxton’s actions on   
   behalf of Nate Paul, an Austin real estate investor and a friend and   
   political donor to Paxton.   
      
   “Each of these four men is a conservative Republican civil servant,” Epley   
   said. “Interviews show that they wanted to be loyal to General Paxton and   
   they tried to advise him well, often and strongly, and when that failed   
   each was fired after reporting General Paxton to law enforcement.”   
      
      
      
   Epley and the other investigators then walked the committee through the   
   whistleblowers’ allegations, including help Paxton gave Paul that went   
   beyond the normal scope of his duties.   
      
   “I ask that you look at the pattern and the deviations from the norm,   
   questions not just of criminal activity but of ethical impropriety and for   
   lacking in transparency,” investigator Erin Epley told the committee. “I   
   ask you to consider the benefits [for Paxton].”   
      
   The public hearing to receive the investigators' report was rare for a   
   committee that typically conducts its business in private. After listening   
   to three hours of testimony, committee members gathered in a nearby room   
   shortly after 11 a.m. to discuss the information in private, emerging   
   about an hour later to report that no action had been taken in executive   
   session.   
      
   Committee members declined to discuss the day’s events.   
      
      
      
   Minutes into the hearing, Paxton called into a Dallas radio show and   
   blasted the investigation as unprecedented. As for the settlement, Paxton   
   told host Mark Davis that his office always knew it would be the   
   Legislature's decision whether to authorize taxpayer money for it, adding   
   that he was shocked the Republican-controlled House has not.   
      
   Hours later, Paxton released a statement blasting the “committee appointed   
   by liberal Speaker Dade Phelan” for sabatoging his work as attorney   
   general.   
      
   “Every allegation is easily disproved, and I look forward to continuing my   
   fight for conservative Texas values,” he said.   
      
   As the hearing unfolded, Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy nonprofit,   
   called on Paxton to resign.   
      
      
   “If he refuses to go willingly, the Texas Legislature must act to remove   
   him,” Adrian Shelley, Public Citizen’s Texas director, said in a   
   statement. “A running series of scandals and an alleged pattern of   
   corruption have clouded Paxton’s entire time in office. The people of   
   Texas simply can’t trust that he is working for their interests, not his.”   
      
   The hearing capped a whirlwind 24 hours at the Capitol where Paxton   
   unexpectedly called on Speaker Dade Phelan to resign, alleging the   
   Beaumont Republican recently presided over the chamber while drunk. Hours   
   later, the investigative committee revealed it was looking into Paxton,   
   and Phelan dismissed the attorney general’s request that he step down as a   
   “last ditch effort to save face.”   
      
   Committee investigators said their probe involved Paxton’s actions to help   
   Paul, who contributed $25,000 to Paxton’s campaign in 2018.   
      
   The relationship between Paxton and Paul was the basis of whistleblower   
   complaints to state and federal authorities, alleging that Paxton had used   
   his office to benefit his friend. That sparked an FBI investigation in   
   November 2020.   
      
      
      
   Lawyers for the whistleblowers thanked the committee for its work, saying   
   it helped to combat corruption and protect the public. Noting that the   
   investigation would not have been possible without their clients’ report   
      
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