AUSTIN, Texas — Mark Penley, one of the Ken Paxton whistleblowers, says in addition to the $3.3 million settlement, they’re also looking for any apology from the Attorney General.
And he told us why that’s so important to them on Inside Texas Politics.
“He accused us of wrongdoing. He accused us of lying. He accused us of committing crimes. We didn’t. We told the truth. That’s all we did. We did the right thing,” said Penley. “He smeared us, and we did the right thing. He was the one doing the wrong thing. And we want him to apologize for it.”
Less than 24 hours after our interview, the Texas Supreme Court lifted the stay on a lawsuit filed by four of the whistleblowers who contend they were retaliated against for reporting Paxton’s alleged misdeeds to the FBI.
The Supreme Court did not explain the reasoning for their decision, but in doing so, they let a ruling by an appeals court stand that concluded that Paxton was subject to the Whistleblower Act.
WFAA has reached out to Paxton’s office for comment on the Supreme Court’s decision, which now sends the case back to a Travis County District Court.
Penley says the entire ordeal has been grueling for him, his family and all of the other whistleblowers.
But he told us he has no regrets.
And when asked whether he wishes he never came forward in the first place, he said he’s never given that a thought.
“You know what? Then I gotta look at myself in the mirror every day and know I did the wrong thing and it’s too late to go back and change it. And I don’t want to live that way. And the other seven didn’t either,” said Penley.
Mark Penley and his attorney Don Tittle also joined us for our latest episode of Y’all-itics. You can listen to the full interview here.
