AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and some of his top aides won't have to sit for a deposition under oath just yet, following a Texas Supreme Court ruling Tuesday afternoon.
The stay issued by the state's highest court for now sits aside an order issued by a Travis County district court judge.
The order gives both sides in the case until Feb. 29 to respond.
Paxton has been fighting the order issued by Judge Jan Soifer since it was issued in December. Earlier this month, Soifer went a step further, ordering Paxton to appear for a deposition on Thursday, Feb. 1, and three other dates over the next week for Paxton's three top aides - Michelle Smith, Brent Webster and Lesley French Henneke.
Four whistleblowers filed suit against Paxton in 2020, alleging they were fired from the AG's office for reporting allegations involving Austin real estate developer Nate Paul to the FBI.
A $3.3 million settlement in the case was reached early last year, but House lawmakers refused to fund the settlement. Instead, the House chose to impeach Paxton, which led to an acquittal in the Senate in September.
In a court filing on Jan. 18, Paxton said he would no longer contest the facts of the case, looking to avoid the court-ordered depositions after exhausting efforts to appeal Soifer's original order.
Former President Donald Trump weighed in on the case on Truth Social Tuesday morning, calling for an end to the legal battle. "Enough time and money has been wasted forcing [Paxton] to defend himself, instead of defending our broken Southern Border, which is under continual siege," Trump said, calling on the justices to "end the Politicization and Abuse of our Justice System."
