A little over a year after the Texas Appeals Court rejected Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s argument that the state’s Whistleblower Act does not apply to whistleblowers reporting violations of law committed elected officials, AG Paxton has agreed to a tentative settlement that will leave the Appeals Court’s ruling in place and provide monetary compensation to four former AG employees. The settlement was revealed in a Texas Supreme Court filing on February 10,… More
Category Archives: Texas Attorney General
State Attorneys General on the Abortion Frontlines
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, state attorneys general are, not surprisingly, joining the frontlines of the ensuing state-by-state debate on abortion rights. Consider two opposing examples from recent weeks. In early July, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey issued a broad consumer advisory regarding so-called crisis pregnancy centers in Massachusetts, arguing that such facilities are frequently not licensed medical facilities and may offer advice that is inaccurate or misleading. … More
Appeals Court Rejects Argument That Whistleblower Protections Do Not Apply to Reporters of Texas AG Paxton’s Alleged Misconduct
The Texas Appeals Court has recently confirmed that employees of elected officials are protected under the Texas Whistleblower Act. In September 2020, high-ranking officials at the Texas Attorney General’s Office (the “OAG”) reported what they believed to be criminal misconduct by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to the FBI, the Texas Rangers, and other law enforcement agencies. In particular, the officials reported that Paxton used his official position to benefit Nate Paul,… More
Twitter Challenges Texas AG’s Civil Investigative Demand
A recent lawsuit filed by Twitter against Texas AG Ken Paxton claims that an investigation into the company’s internal content moderation policies violates the First Amendment.
On January 13, Paxton issued a civil investigative demand (CID) to Twitter seeking information related to the company’s policies and procedures for content moderation. In addition to requesting all versions of Twitter’s terms of use,… More
Exxon-Healey Dispute Gets Hearing as State AGs Weigh In
This week in the Northern District of Texas, U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade heard oral argument on Exxon Mobil’s motion for preliminary injunction against Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s civil investigative demand, issued to Exxon on April 19, 2016, which sought documents from Exxon related to its analysis of research efforts to study climate change. The argument followed two amicus briefs from state attorneys general across the country.
The first brief,… More
Texas AG Wins Preliminary Injunction in Title IX Dispute
State AGs are once again taking a major partisan issue to the federal courts. On August 21, 2016, at the urging of the State AG of Texas, as well as the AGs or other representatives of ten other states, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted a preliminary injunction preventing nationwide implementation of guidance, issued under Title IX, by the Departments of Justice and Education regarding gender identity.… More