Top Paxton deputy accused of witness tampering during impeachment trial

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

---

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s current and former top deputies are flinging shocking allegations at each other in court filings, from sexual harassment to falsifying documents and tampering with witnesses during Paxton’s 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.