DALLAS — 2023 tested Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s political resilience – and he escaped relatively unscathed.
But 2024 will test him more. Here are the legal challenges ahead for the AG in the coming months:
Ken Paxton's securities fraud trial
Paxton’s trial on securities fraud charges is set for April 15 in a Houston courtroom. He was indicted on the charges in 2015.
The alleged crime happened in 2011, when he was accused of soliciting investors in a technology company without telling them the company was paying him.
Paxton pled not guilty. He and his legal team have been trying to get the case thrown out for almost nine years. The case has been moved from Collin County to Harris County multiple times.
Arguments over payments to prosecutors further delayed it. But in late 2023, after his impeachment acquittal, a judge finally set the case for trial.
Securities fraud is a felony, and a conviction could mean up to 99 years in prison.
Ken Paxton's whistleblower case
The impetus for Paxton’s historic impeachment trial inside the Texas Capitol was a whistleblower lawsuit filed by four former Attorney General Office employees.
They claimed Paxton retaliated against them after they reported him to the FBI. They told agents Paxton was abusing the AG's office to help Nate Paul – an Austin real estate developer who was also under investigation.
The whistleblowing attorneys sued when they were either fired, demoted, or reassigned. Paxton agreed to settle the case, but the funding had to be approved by lawmakers. And when the Texas House began reviewing the case's merits, they uncovered proof they believed proved the whistleblowers’ allegations were true.
The House impeached Paxton, but the Texas Senate cleared him.
About two weeks after his acquittal, the Texas Supreme Court rejected Paxton’s request that the whistleblower case be dismissed. He argued it had been settled, but the plaintiffs said it hadn't because they never received payment.
The lawsuit is now moving forward in Travis County. A judge ruled Paxton must sit for a deposition – the first time he will testify under oath. He was not forced to take the stand during his impeachment trial.
Ken Paxton's federal investigation
There is also an active federal investigation into Paxton.
WFAA confirmed a grand jury in Bexar County has heard testimony from witnesses close to the AG himself.
More Paxton coverage: