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In December, Texas led 10 Republican attorneys
general in suing Google for allegedly running an
illegal digital-advertising monopoly in cahoots
with Facebook. Paxton picked Houston attorney
Mark Lanier to lead the case.
Lanier has experience with antitrust litigation
and a long record of big wins against corporate
giants, including a $260 million settlement
last year over the toll taken by opioids in Ohio.
He’s also a longtime donor to GOP causes and
candidates in Texas, including Paxton.
Mateer, McCarty and Ryan Bangert, another
senior lawyer involved in the case, all resigned
after reporting Paxton to the FBI. All eight of
Paxton’s accusers have quit or been fired, and
four alleged in a lawsuit that the attorney general
created a hostile work environment, including by
deploying armed guards, to force them out.
Lanier said “you would need to ask the AG” why
he was enlisted for the case but that given his
legal record, “I hope I was hired as more than
a stand in for the departed lawyers.” He also
said he will be helped by staff in the attorney
general’s office who have been on the suit from
the start.
“Google has assembled the best lawyers
unlimited money can buy,” Lanier said. “I believe
the AG worked to assemble a team that will
contend with everyone Google hires.”