Jackson Walker attorney Erica Benites Giese, a former federal prosecutor for the Western District of Texas, spoke with The Associated Press about Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Blackwell, who has been tasked with overseeing the FBI’s investigation of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

During her time as a senior federal prosecutor in San Antonio, Erica was an observer of Blackwell’s work on a case against a former state senator.

“No politics plays into his analysis whatsoever,” Erica told AP. She also noted that Blackwell is not the type of prosecutor “who just wants heads on his wall.”

To read more, see the AP article “In FBI probe, Texas AG faces aggressive, ethical prosecutor.”

Meet Erica

Prior to joining Jackson Walker’s Investigations & White Collar Defense group, Erica Benites Giese served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Texas. In that role, she served as Chief of the Financial Litigation Unit and the San Antonio and Del Rio divisions. She also spearheaded the creation of a Suspicious Activity Report Review Team in the San Antonio and Del Rio divisions, which resulted in her gaining a wealth of knowledge in Anti-Money Laundering compliance-related issues for financial institutions.

In her practice, Erica handles civil and criminal white collar investigation and litigation matters, qui tam complaints and investigations, healthcare fraud matters, government contract fraud inquiries, bank and wire fraud investigations, and immigration worksite enforcement actions. She helps clients navigate the daunting task of responding to civil, criminal and administrative subpoenas, including Civil Investigative Demands. Erica also advises and advocates for individual and corporate victims of fraud. A Certified Fraud Examiner, she is equipped to handle all types of fraud matters and internal investigations. Since 2019, Scene in S.A. has recognized Erica as one of the “Best S.A. Lawyers” in the area of criminal defense. Erica has tried over 100 cases to Texas juries.