On Monday, 4 whistleblowers who helped ignite an FBI investigation of Texas legal professional Basic Ken Paxton for bribery and different misconduct issued a detailed rebuttal to what they referred to as “numerous false and misleading public statements” made by Paxton in latest weeks.
The assertion got here from Former Deputy Lawyer Basic James Blake Brickman, Mark Penley, Ryan Vassar, and former Director of Regulation Enforcement David Maxwell.
On September 30, 2020, they reported Ken Paxton’s and his company’s corrupt and prison conduct to the FBI. After getting fired, they filed a lawsuit below the Texas Whistleblower Act.
The lawsuit alleges that Paxton illegally used his workplace in 2019-2020 to assist multi-millionaire Austin investor Nate Paul, in alternate for advantages that included reworking Paxton’s Austin house, using Paxton’s mistress, and receiving a $25,000 political donation, as reported by Austin American-Statesman.
Up till this second, the whistleblowers’ choice was to stay silent whereas the FBI investigation was nonetheless ongoing and whereas their civil case progressed in courts. Nonetheless, on account of Paxton’s latest remarks, they felt obligated to appropriate the deceptive remarks, in line with the assertion.
“The people of Texas deserve the truth,” the 4 former officers mentioned in a joint assertion. “The most basic qualifications of an attorney general are respect for truth and respect for the law. Ken Paxton has neither.”
Paxton’s deceptive statements embrace:
- In a Jan. 31 interview with North Texas radio host Mark Davis, Paxton attacked the whistleblowers claiming they “didn’t come to him” and “didn’t explain” the problems along with his prison habits.
He additionally accused the whistleblowers of “committing crimes and doing things that were illegal”
Nonetheless, the whistleblowers name Paxton out, saying his allegations are “ridiculous.” Their grievance particulars particular dates of conversations with the Lawyer Basic, the place they confronted him on his corrupt and prison conduct.
“When he would not abide by the law, we reported him to the FBI. Paxton is under criminal investigation, not the whistleblowers,” the assertion says.
- Throughout a Feb. 9 appearance in a video posted on Youtube by Texas Scorecard, a conservative media outlet started by the far-right group Empower Texans, Paxton mentioned he “didn’t create this issue … it was referred to me from Travis County,” referring to the efforts to launch the prison investigation Paul wished.
In line with the Travis County District Lawyer, Margaret Moore, it was Paxton who personally went to her with the marketing campaign donor and his legal professional to provoke the grievance.
Paxton then went on to say he was completely blindsided by the allegations, and that also to this present day he has no concept why the whistleblowers are publicly accusing him.
“No specific allegation, just you’ve done something wrong. Now you’re in trouble. And then everybody points to me as like, ‘you’ve done something wrong,’ ” Paxton mentioned. “I still to this day, I have no idea what crime I committed.”
In line with the assertion, Paxton is absolutely conscious of the allegations as he and his taxpayer-funded workers wrote a 374-page manifesto purporting to exonerate him from these allegations.
As well as, the grievance within the whistleblower case contains detailed factual allegations and identifies no less than six federal and state prison legal guidelines that they accused Paxton and his workplace of violating.