WASHINGTON — Two high-ranking deputies of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton were pushed out in 2023 over harassment allegations, according to court filings in a federal lawsuit filed last month.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has spotlighted the allegations through his campaign, criticizing Paxton’s handling of the matter. Paxton has launched a primary challenge to Cornyn, who is seeking reelection to a fifth six-year term.
Jordan Eskew worked with Judd Stone and Chris Hilton at the attorney general’s office, where Stone served as the state solicitor general and Hilton as the chief of the general litigation division.
The Texas House impeached Paxton in May 2023. Stone and Hilton took a leave of absence and created a law firm to help with Paxton’s impeachment defense.
Eskew took leave to work as an executive assistant at the firm. Eskew filed the suit last month alleging she was the subject of harassment and verbal abuse while working at the firm.
She says she reported the incidents when employees returned to the attorney general’s office after the Texas Senate acquitted Paxton in September 2023.
Hilton and Stone resigned from Paxton’s office the following month. No reason for their departure was released publicly at the time.
Eskew’s lawsuit incorporates a Dec. 2, 2024, internal email written by First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster. The email was written after Stone and Hilton submitted a public information request related to Webster.
In his email Webster describes two women alleging harassment by Stone.
“They also expressed their disappointment with Chris Hilton who just sat there and watched Judd harass them over the summer without speaking up in their defense,” Webster said in the email.
The lawsuit alleges Stone and Hilton were told they would be terminated if they did not resign from the attorney general’s office. Webster wrote in his email “pursuant to legal advice from HR, it is customary to allow people to resign in lieu of termination.”
“AG Paxton was shocked and appalled by what he learned and agreed with the legal advice to take immediate action to prevent future harm to these women,” Webster said in the email.
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for Stone and Hilton’s law firm provided a statement:
“Brent Webster has a personal vendetta against Mr. Hilton and Mr. Stone. This is a political hit job. This lawsuit is his creation and a complete fabrication. Our focus remains on servicing our clients with excellence. We are confident in the truth and the truth will prevail.”
The Office of the Attorney General did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Cornyn’s reelection campaign has highlighted the lawsuit as an example of how Paxton is “unfit” for the office. The Cornyn camp pointed to a $125,000 payment in November 2023 from Paxton’s attorney general campaign to Stone and Hilton’s law firm for legal services.
Cornyn campaign senior adviser Matt Mackowiak said in a statement that Paxton was so “shocked and appalled” by the allegations against Stone “that he paid him an additional $125,000 weeks after Stone itted his outrageous behavior which led to AG Paxton allowing him to resign rather than fire him for cause.”
Paxton campaign officials did not respond to a request for comment.
Recent polling shows Cornyn trailing Paxton among Texas Republican primary voters.
Many Trump ers were upset in May 2023 when Cornyn questioned Trump’s ability to win another general election and said the party should look for a different nominee.
The following January, after Trump won the New Hampshire primary, Cornyn said it was time for Republicans to rally behind him.
Paxton has criticized Cornyn for his role in crafting a bipartisan gun safety measure Congress ed in the wake of the 2022 Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde.
Cornyn has attacked Paxton as unworthy of the office and is incorporating the attorney general’s handling of Eskew’s allegations into those criticisms.