AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas attorney general’s office waived its own ethics rules when allowing six employees to take extended leaves to defend their boss, Ken Paxton, in his upcoming impeachment trial, according to agency records obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
A longstanding agency policy only allows attorneys to perform outside legal work in narrow circumstances, after a rigorous vetting process and without pay in order to avoid conflicts of interest.
First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster granted an exception for the six staff in late May, and also promised the employees their jobs back after the impeachment proceedings end, the records show.
The staffers’ absences leave key roles at the attorney general’s office unfilled ahead of the upcoming Senate trial that could drag on for months, legal experts said.
“If all these high-up assistant attorneys general are taking leave, who’s attending to their business in their absence?” said Jim McCormack, an attorney in private practice and former General Counsel and Chief Disciplinary Counsel at the State Bar of Texas.
Officials at the attorney general’s office, which now is being led by an interim appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, did not answer questions about why the exemption was granted or how the employees’ absence is affecting the agency’s work.
“We are not commenting on the matter of the impeachment of Attorney General Paxton, and we do not comment on personnel matters,” spokesperson Paige Wiley said in an email to The News on Friday.
The House impeached Paxton for allegedly abusing the power of his office and accepting bribes, among other alleged misdeeds. The third-term Republican, who’s suspended without pay pending the outcome of a Senate trial, has cast the GOP-initiated proceedings as a sham meant to thwart the will of voters.
Among the agency employees on leave is Solicitor General Judd Stone, who oversees the state’s appeals and argues cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Another is General Litigation Chief Chris Hilton, whose division defends state agencies, elected officials and state employees in civil litigation.
Also on leave are assistant solicitors general Joseph Mazzara and Kateland Jackson; Allison Collins, an assistant attorney general in Hilton’s division; and Jordan Eskew, an executive assistant under Hilton.
Paxton’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Taking leave
Shortly after the GOP-led House voted to impeach Paxton last month, the agency employees wrote to Webster that they would take leave to represent their boss in the impeachment proceedings. The state employees noted that they would like to use their paid leave until it’s exhausted, and then take an unpaid leave.
“I intend to represent the Attorney General in those proceedings and to return to my position at their conclusion,” several of them wrote in emails they sent to Webster and other agency officials May 30.
“This is Approved,” Webster, Paxton’s No. 2 who was leading the agency in his absence, responded minutes later, according to copies of the emails The News obtained through a public records request.
Hilton and Stone organized a law firm — Stone Hilton PLLC — on May 31, according to formation papers filed with the secretary of State. They have since issued written communications regarding Paxton’s impeachment trial using that firm’s letterhead.
Also on May 31, Webster sent the employees a formal letter authorizing them to represent Paxton in their “individual capacity in all matters related to impeachment proceedings.”
“You will be permitted to return to your position and assume full duties at the OAG when this matter is concluded,” he wrote.
Webster determined in the letter that the staffers’ activity poses no conflict with their employment with the agency, that they can be paid for the outside work with non-agency sources, and that their “temporary absence will not disrupt or impede ongoing OAG operations in any manner.”
“I further grant an exemption to OAG policies restricting outside legal representation to the extent any would otherwise prohibit the representation,” he wrote.
It’s not clear whether Paxton will pay the agency employees for their work. He retained Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee to lead his defense in a Senate trial that must begin by Aug. 28.
‘Memorialize the process’
On Friday, the agency released an additional explanation via a memo composed the same day The News questioned whether the agency had followed its own policies regarding staffers providing outside legal representation.
The News obtained a copy of the agency’s “Policies and Procedures Manual” through a previous public records request.
Under the manual’s ethics and integrity section, it notes that “Employees of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) may not provide legal advice, perform legal services, or accept any employment for legal representation that is in addition to their official position with the agency, except as provided in this policy.”
It lists exemptions, which include unpaid legal work for family and friends or for certain pro bono cases. Agency attorneys may not accept fees for outside legal services after they’re employed by the state, the policy said, and they cannot participate in any outside legal activities that could constitute a conflict of interest.
To get approval to perform outside legal work, attorneys must submit to their supervisors and the agency’s ethics adviser a form explaining the nature of the proposed matter, the estimated time commitment and any actual or apparent conflicts of interest.
This procedure was not followed, according to a memo the agency sent to The News on Friday. The memo was dated Thursday, when the News asked questions about the agency’s procedure for approving the employees’ leave. General Counsel Austin Kinghorn said he wrote the memo after Webster asked him to “memorialize the process undertaken.”
According to the memo, Kinghorn said Webster, who at the time was acting attorney general, was the only person with the authority to grant leave “under the unique circumstances.” He also noted:
“This process ordinarily requires the employee to submit documentation that is only available through the OAG’s intranet. Notably, this process was not available to the employees at issue because they had already initiated their respective leaves of absence.”
He concluded that the agency is compliant with internal policy and acted with sound judgment when Webster made the final determination on the leave. The approval required an exemption to agency policy, he noted, which only the attorney general or the First Assistant can approve. The memo did not explain why Webster granted the exemption.
On Tuesday, the GOP-led chamber is expected to release rules for the proceedings.
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(Staff writer Lauren McGaughy contributed to this report.)
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