Top Paxton deputy accused of witness tampering during impeachment trial
While both sides go to great lengths to stress that Paxton was not involved in any of the alleged malfeasances, the infighting threatens to become an unwelcome sideshow to Paxton's bid for U.S. Senate.
The latest filings accuse current First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster of 'obstructing justice, committing official oppression, and tampering with witnesses' while Paxton was facing impeachment in 2023. He was eventually acquitted by the Texas Senate.
Former Texas Solicitor General Judd Stone and assistant attorney general Chris Hilton say Webster — Paxton's second-in-command — told them he 'would pressure potential witnesses to flee the State to evade being subpoenaed to disclose information harmful to Webster' during Senate proceedings.
Stone and Hilton detailed these accusations in a lawsuit and State Bar of Texas complaint filed this week and first reported by the Houston Chronicle. These filings come just a month after a lawsuit was filed against Stone and Hilton alleging they were pushed out of the agency due to sexual harassment.
That suit, filed by OAG employee Jordan Eskew, contained an email written by Webster, in which he says Stone admitted to the sexual harassment. Stone also told female employees he was a sociopath who had fantasized about raping Webster in front of his kids, Webster said in the email, dated December 2024.
But Webster falsified that email to retroactively change why Stone and Hilton had left the agency, the two former employees now say, calling the allegations a 'loathsome lie with no basis in fact, concocted wholly with the intention of slandering Stone.'
The lawsuit says this is part of Webster's ongoing campaign to discredit the two lawyers, including using the power of the attorney general's office to dissuade a potential major client from working with their firm.
'Texans should be disappointed to know that the person leading the Office of the Attorney General cares so little for the responsibility attendant to his office that he will stop at nothing to enrich himself and harm his personal enemies,' the lawsuit says.
Stone and Hilton were among several agency employees who took leaves of absence to defend Paxton during the impeachment trial, which concluded in September 2023. The next month, The Texas Tribune reported they had permanently left the agency amid a disagreement over if and when they would return to work.
Both sides cite support for their positions from Paxton himself. Webster says the attorney general immediately approved his request to terminate Stone and Hilton once the alleged sexual harassment came to light, but the new filings say Paxton opposed the release of Webster's email.
'On the recommendation of members of his staff who disagreed with Webster's actions, the Attorney General directed that OAG recall the email and rule that it was improperly released,' the lawsuit says. 'Webster, realizing that Stone and Hilton had obtained the Attorney General's support in rescinding the email, decided to foil the Attorney General's efforts. Eskew abruptly cut off negotiations and filed her meritless litigation against Plaintiffs.'
The State Bar has 30 days to determine whether to investigate the complaint. There is no official timeline for either lawsuit to get resolved, meaning both sides could be sparring well into election season.
Neither Webster nor the Office of the Attorney General immediately responded to a request for comment.
Disclosure: State Bar of Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Big news: 20 more speakers join the TribFest lineup! New additions include Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Michael Curry, former presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church; Beto O'Rourke, former U.S. Representative, D-El Paso; Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, founder and managing partner at 8VC; and Katie Phang, journalist and trial lawyer.
Get tickets.
TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 minutes ago
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. Finally Reveals Why He Wears Jeans To Work Out
Fox News' Jesse Watters hit Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with what he described as 'the question that everybody is wondering about' on Tuesday. Namely, 'Why do you wear jeans when you work out?' Kennedy, known for exercising in his literal sweatpants, answered: 'Well, I just started doing that a long time ago because I would go hiking in the morning and then I'd go straight to the gym and I found it was convenient and now I'm used to it so I just do it.' 'OK,' the Fox News host replied to the vaccine skeptic that President Donald Trump has entrusted with his so-called 'Make America Healthy Again' agenda. 'There were a lot of theories but that makes perfect sense,' Watters claimed, without offering to explain the sense he claimed there was. Watch here: The question came after Kennedy and Fox personality-turned-Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth challenged Americans to do 50 pull-ups and 100 pushups in under five minutes. Watch that clip here: Related... Rachel Maddow Makes Awkward Confession About MSNBC's New Name Trump's Latest Boast Breaks Math Brains Across The Internet RFK Jr. Says Trump Keeps Hounding Him On The Phone With Same Question
Washington Post
5 minutes ago
- Washington Post
White House creates account on TikTok, the app Trump once tried to ban
The White House launched an account on the popular video app TikTok on Tuesday, sharing a number of videos, including one in which President Donald Trump declares: 'I am your voice.' The U.S. has had a rocky relationship with the Chinese-owned video app across multiple administrations. Federal employees are banned from downloading it on work devices — with limited exceptions — because of concerns that China could collect Americans' user data.
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Immigrants seeking lawful work and citizenship are now subject to 'anti-Americanism' screening
Immigrants seeking a legal pathway to live and work in the United States will now be subject to screening for 'anti-Americanism',' authorities said Tuesday, raising concerns among critics that it gives officers too much leeway in rejecting foreigners based on a subjective judgment. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said officers will now consider whether an applicant for benefits, such as a green card, 'endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused" anti-American, terrorist or antisemitic views. 'America's benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies,' Matthew Tragesser, USCIS spokesman, said in a statement. 'Immigration benefits—including to live and work in the United States—remain a privilege, not a right.' It isn't specified what constitutes anti-Americanism and it isn't clear how and when the directive would be applied. 'The message is that the U.S. and immigration agencies are going to be less tolerant of anti-Americanism or antisemitism when making immigration decisions," Elizabeth Jacobs, director of regulatory affairs and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates for immigration restrictions, said on Tuesday. Jacobs said the government is being more explicit in the kind of behaviors and practices officers should consider, but emphasized that discretion is still in place. "The agency cannot tell officers that they have to deny — just to consider it as a negative discretion,' she said. Critics worry the policy update will allow for more subjective views of what is considered anti-American and allow an officer's personal bias to cloud his or her judgment. 'For me, the really big story is they are opening the door for stereotypes and prejudice and implicit bias to take the wheel in these decisions. That's really worrisome," said Jane Lilly Lopez, associate professor of sociology at Brigham Young University. The policy changes follow others recently implemented since the start of the Trump administration including social media vetting and the most recent addition of assessing applicants seeking naturalization for 'good moral character'. That will not only consider 'not simply the absence of misconduct' but also factor the applicant's positive attributes and contributions. 'It means you are going to just do a whole lot more work to provide evidence that you meet our standards,' Lopez said. Experts disagree on the constitutionality of the policy involving people who are not U.S. citizens and their freedom of speech. Jacobs, of the Center for Immigration Studies, said First Amendment rights do not extend to people outside the U.S. or who are not U.S. citizens. Ruby Robinson, senior managing attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, believes the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution protects all people in the United States, regardless of their immigration status, against government encroachment. 'A lot of this administration's activities infringe on constitutional rights and do need to be resolved, ultimately, in courts,' Robinson added. Attorneys are advising clients to adjust their expectations. 'People need to understand that we have a different system today and a lot more things that apply to U.S. citizens are not going to apply to somebody who's trying to enter the United States," said Jaime Diez, an immigration attorney based in Brownsville, Texas. Jonathan Grode, managing partner of Green and Spiegel immigration law firm, said the policy update was not unexpected considering how the Trump administration approaches immigration. 'This is what was elected. They're allowed to interpret the rules the way they want,' Grode said. 'The policy always to them is to shrink the strike zone. The law is still the same.'
