What to know about Texas’ interim AG
The Attorney General's Office has announced that First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster will be the temporary replacement for Ken Paxton, who was impeached by the Texas House last week.
As first assistant attorney general, Webster represented Texas taxpayers in Paxton's lawsuit that sought to overturn the 2020 election results for Donald Trump.
Webster started working for the office at a tumultuous time in October 2020, shortly after eight top aides reported Paxton to law enforcement, accusing him of taking bribes and abusing the authority of his office. Paxton fired the whistleblowers and hired new department heads, including Webster.
Paxton has denied all wrongdoing alleged by the whistleblowers, whose complaints are reportedly still under investigation by the FBI.
The whistleblowers' accusations also made up the foundation of the House's impeachment articles.
Here's what you need to know:
How long will he be in charge?
It's unclear. State law requires that if the attorney general is “absent or unable to act,” the first assistant takes over the duties of the attorney general.
Gov. Greg Abbott can appoint a temporary replacement, according to the Texas Constitution, but he has so far not commented on the situation. Abbott, a Republican, was attorney general prior to Paxton.
When the whistleblower allegations first surfaced, Abbott said they “raise serious concerns,” but also said he would “withhold further comment until the results of any investigation are complete.”
What is Webster’s background?
Webster has a bachelor's degree in political science and government from Southwestern University and a law degree from the University of Houston, according to his Linkedin profile.
He cut his teeth at the Williamson County District Attorney's Office, where he worked for about a decade, rising through the ranks to eventually become first assistant district attorney.
While there, he was awarded the “Crime Victim Advocate Hall of Fame Award” for outstanding service to crime victims, according to a news release.
Toward the end of his time there, he ran for election to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal court in Texas.
He lost by 16 percentage points to a criminal defense attorney from Fort Worth who happened to have the same name as Scott Walker, the Republican governor from Wisconsin, and had only lightly campaigned.
After Webster left, the Williamson County DA blamed Webster for the loss of thousands of dollars that the office expected to seize in cases involving asset forfeitures, saying Webster had failed to file certain necessary paperwork, according to the Austin American-statesman. Webster told the newspaper at the time that the office was short-staffed and he only had time to concentrate on criminal cases.
After leaving the DA'S office, Webster was chief operating officer of a company that builds Amazon stores for investors called Just One Dime and also went into private practice as senior counsel with Houston-based firm Edwards Sutarwalla PLLC, which specializes in business, civil rights and personal injury law.
Webster was tapped in October 2020 to serve as first assistant attorney general after Jeff Mateer, who was one of the whistleblowers, resigned following his reporting of Paxton's alleged crimes to law enforcement authorities. He makes $275,000 a year, according to the Texas Tribune's salaries explorer, more than any other employee in the agency, including Paxton.
What role has he played at the AG’S office?
As first assistant, Webster was Paxton's top deputy, in charge of an agency made up of hundreds of employees spread out across the state.
His duties included advising the attorney general on management and legal issues, resolving human resources, administrative, and organizational issues and testifying at hearings, trials and legislative meetings, according to his job description.
On top of arguing cases on behalf of state agencies or in defense of state laws or policies, the agency also is responsible for establishing and enforcing child support agreements and overseeing a crime victims' assistance program. It also handles some criminal cases, particularly when a local prosecutor declines a case or requests assistance, and litigates civil cases on subjects ranging from Medicaid fraud to antitrust violations.
In December 2020, Webster signed his name to an unsuccessful suit filed by Paxton before the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn Joe Biden's presidential wins in four battleground states.
The State Bar of Texas later sued Paxton and Webster for professional misconduct for his part in the suit, arguing that it made dishonest and misleading statements about the existence of voter fraud, including many that had already been debunked in other courts in the country. The case against Paxton is ongoing, and a judge dismissed the case against Webster, though the bar is appealing.
Top Republicans have come to their defense, with Abbott saying the case “raise(s) separationof-powers questions under our Constitution” and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick calling it “politically motivated.”