Two whistleblowers who accused Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of bribery were both fired, according to a former senior official with the agency.
One of the whistleblowers, Lacey Mase, was terminated Tuesday. “It was not voluntary,” Mase told the Texas Tribune, declining further comment.
A second whistleblower, Blake Brickman, was also fired Tuesday, but his termination was not reported until Thursday evening. Brickman was the deputy attorney general for policy and strategy for less than a year. The former senior official who reported the firings has not been publicly identified.
Mase and Brickman were two of seven officials who “reported to an appropriate law enforcement authority a potential violation of law committed by Warren K. Paxton, Jr. in his official capacity as the current Attorney General of Texas,” according to a letter obtained by the outlet. Emails revealed they accused Paxton of abusing the power of his office “to serve the financial interests of a donor, Nate Paul.”
Nate Paul is a real estate investor who gave Paxton a $25,000 campaign contribution in 2018, the Houston Chronicle reported. Paul’s home and office were raided last year by the FBI. Following the incident, Paxton opened an investigation into the matter, citing the whistleblowers’ complaint. They claimed Paxton was using the “criminal” process to help his donor.
Paxton has since called off the investigation and dismissed allegations of criminal behavior. “The complaint filed against General Paxton was done to impede on an ongoing investigation into criminal wrongdoing by public officials including employees of this office,” Paxton’s office told CNN. “Making false claims is a very serious matter and we plan to investigate this to the fullest extent of the law.”
State employees in Texas are protected against retaliation from employers after submitting criminal complaints against their superior offices, according to the Texas Whistleblower Act. Employment attorneys told the Texas Tribune that Paxton could face a lawsuit for violating that law.
The whistleblower complaint is being investigated by prosecutors already investigating Paxton concerning potential securities fraud charges. The previous charges accused Paxton of convincing investors to buy tech stocks without disclosing that he would be compensated for the sales.
