AUSTIN, Texas – The fourth day of the historic impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate has been concluded. He faces 16 articles of impeachment that accuse him of misusing the powers of the attorney general’s office to help his friend and donor Nate Paul, an Austin real estate investor who was under federal investigation.
Paxton pleaded not guilty to all impeachment articles on the trial’s first day, which started Tuesday. His defense attorneys have vowed to disprove the accusations and said they will present evidence showing they are based on assumptions, not facts.
The trial could last several weeks and is expected to hinge on Paxton’s relationship with Paul. It could also prominently feature details of Paxton’s alleged extramarital affair. The proceedings involve a massive cast of elected officials, high-profile lawyers, whistleblowers from within Paxton’s office and the attorney general’s former personal assistant.
Sept. 8, 2023 4:56 at p.m.
Paxton’s defense attorney, Dan Cogdell, repeatedly pressed Maxwell on how and why he decided that Paul’s claims were baseless and potentially criminal, the Texas Tribune reported. He also asked Maxwell numerous times to clarify what crimes Paul had committed by asking for the attorney general’s office to investigate his allegations that he had been unfairly targeted.
Maxwell often responded by saying that Paul did not explicitly ask for him to break the law — but that the request, if fulfilled, would have created a “map” for a crime.
“To create this investigation and follow through with it would be obstruction of justice and interfering with a federal investigation,” Maxwell responded.
Maxwell also said that he never had “any intention” of investigating Paul’s claims, one of which was that a search warrant for his businesses was fraudulent. After a testy exchange with Cogdell, Maxwell testified that he decided Paul’s claims weren’t serious after looking at the search warrant and deeming that it was indeed, “lawful.”
The fourth day of trial was concluded just before 5 p.m.
Sept. 8, 2023 at 1:04 p.m.
David Maxwell, former Director of Law Enforcement for the Attorney General, took the stand on Friday after an hour lunch break.
Several minutes into his testimony, Maxwell said he warned Paxton his conduct in Nate Paul’s legal matters was improper.
“I told him that Nate Paul was a criminal. He was running a Ponzi scheme, and if he didn’t get away from what he was doing, he was going to get himself indicted,” Maxwell said during his testimony.
Maxwell said he was wrongfully fired after speaking up against Nate Paul. He said he was 71 years old at the time of his firing and had risen to the top level of law enforcement. He added that when he was fired, Paxton ruined his 48-year career in law enforcement.
Maxwell testified that he filed the whistleblower lawsuit because his career had ended in an unjust manner.
The witness was passed at 2:06 p.m.
Sept. 8, 2023 at 10:15 a.m.
Proceedings resume. Paxton’s attorney Mitch Little continued to cross-examine Vassar, reading several more text messages.
In one of the messages read aloud to jurors, Vassar suggested to his colleagues he was in a group message with that they resign from the Attorney General’s Office together on or around Sept. 29.
Also during Vassar’s testimony, he revealed that the attorney general’s office kept a “blacklist” of reporters who they “handled differently than other reporters.” Vassar testified that Dallas Morning News reporter Lauren McGaughy, who has covered the attorney general’s office for a decade, was on that list.
Sept. 8, 2023 at 9:30 a.m.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called for a 30-minute break.
Sept. 8, 2023 at 6:50 a.m.
Whistleblower Ryan Vassar, former Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel, resumed his testimony Friday.
The Senate continued with their cross-examination by Paxton’s attorney Mitch Little at 9 a.m.
Little displayed a number of text messages between Vassar and some of his former colleagues, now whistleblowers, who were mocking Paxton and other colleagues in their office.
Vassar said most of the text messages were jokes among colleagues and friends who worked for the AG’s Office.
In one of the text messages, one of the whistleblowers said the attorney general’s office was “ going to fall apart and that’s one person’s fault, and one person only: (Ken Paxton).”
A text from Vassar included an image of “Going Rouge: The Sarah Palin Rogue Coloring and Activity Book” — a satirical 2009 book that Vassar used as an “oblique reference” to Paxton’s criticism of the whistleblowers. The texts from 2020 contrasted with Vassar’s tears at the term “rogue” when questioned on Day 3 of the trial.
“It was a joke. I believe earlier your testimony was that being called a ‘rogue employee’ was very upsetting to you. Right?,” Little asked Vassar. “No one was ever supposed to see it. And certainly not the people of Texas who are watching this impeachment proceeding, right? No one was ever supposed to see this.”
“Well, it was a conversation among friends. But I wouldn’t say that any of us are concerned that it’s being discussed here today,” Vassar responded.
About 30 minutes into the second day of Vassar’s testimony, Sen. Borris Miles approached Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is presiding over the trial, and whispered something to him before exiting the Senate floor.
Patrick announced the proceedings would pause for 30 minutes.
(Below is an interactive graphic showing who’s who and how the courtroom is organized.)
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