AUSTIN, Texas – The historic impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate enters day six.
Paxton 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.
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Paxton pleaded not guilty to all impeachment articles on the trial’s first day, which started Tuesday, Sept. 5. During the first week, whistleblowers who reported Paxton to the FBI for criminal activity, testified that he was “obsessed” with helping his friend Paul.
Both sides were each given 27 hours to present their cases and arguments and have used up about half that time, said Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is presiding over the trial.
If convicted by the Texas Senate, Paxton would be removed from office and possibly barred from holding any political office in the future.
A two-thirds majority — or at least 21 votes — is needed to convict. That means if all Democrats vote against Paxton, they still need nine Republicans to join them.
Sept. 12, 2023, at 7:17 p.m.
Court was adjourned for the day.
Sept. 12, 2023, at 7:01 p.m.
Buzbee concludes. Dick DeGuerin returns to the stand for a brief redirect.
Sept. 12, 2023, at 6:28 p.m.
Attorney Tony Buzbee begins cross-examination.
McCarty testified that Paxton took a huge interest in Nate Paul’s litigation against the Mitte Foundation, based in Austin which sued Paul for fraud.
Paul was locked in a dispute against the Mitte Foundation and asked Paxton to intervene.
When asked if McCarty told Paxton to appear in the Travis County District Court for a hearing of the charity lawsuit, he said he talked Paxton out of it, calling it a “terrible thing to do.”
His response left him stunned, McCarty testified.
Sept. 12, 2023, at 5:45 p.m.
Court has resumed.
Sept. 12, 2023, at 5:31 p.m.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick calls for a 10-minute break to “resolve a few lingering questions.”
Sept. 12, 2023, at 5:10 p.m.
Attorney Dick DeGuerin calls Attorney Darren McCarty, one of the whistleblowers, to the stand.
Sept. 12, 2023, at 5:01 p.m.
Little concludes the cross-examination on Garrison, where Paxton’s lawyers tried to push back against the claim that Amplify did not lose money during the foreclosure.
Garrison is excused from the witness stand.
Sept. 12, 2023 at 4:47 p.m.
Attorney J. Mitchell Little approaches the witness stand to hand a “2.5-inch” packet that details all three loans.
Garrison was asked if the loans were posted for foreclosure in July 2020 Garrison said, “I don’t know.”
Little asks Garrison about the federal moratorium on foreclosures due to COVID. He said he was also unsure.
Sept. 12, 2023, at 4:32 p.m.
The House calls Kendall Garrison, CEO of Amplify Credit Union to the stand.
Garrison explains the three loans taken out by Nate Paul and World Class Holdings during the summer of 2020 were headed to foreclosure due to nonpayment. The loans were totaled $11.5 million.
Garrison said his company sold the properties via auction in August.
An AG opinion sent via email to Amplify employees, dubbed the “midnight” opinion,’ stated that foreclosures could not continue due to COVID.
When asked if Nate Paul was aware of the loans, Garrison said he was, and whether Paul made efforts to avoid foreclosure, Garrison said “There were meetings held.”
Sept. 12. 2023, at 4:10 p.m.
Cogwell concludes his cross-examination.
Lt. Gov. asks Rusty Hardin for a redirect. He stands down.
The House Board of Managers called Joe Brown, former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas. He was interviewed for the job to investigate Nate Paul, but later declined due to “conflicts of interest,” after finding out Paxton was previously fined by the Texas State Securities Board.
That was when the attorney general’s office hired Cammack, even though he was less experienced.
Sept. 12, 2023, at 3:35 p.m.
Court returns from break.
Sept. 12, 2023, at 3:05 p.m.
Court is on break until 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 12, 2023, at 2:30 p.m.
Cogwell asked to look at Article of Impeachment No. 5.
Cammack testified that Paxton reached out to him to bring him on board as a special prosecutor to work with him. He was five years removed from law school.
Cammack was hired at $300 an hour by Paxton, but he admitted that he did not have the experience in issuing Grand Jury subpoenas.
Cammack was assigned to investigate parties targeting Nate Paul.
However, Cammack claimed he never got his credentials with the Attorney General’s office even though he was working for Paxton.
Then, he testified that in October, the U.S. Marshals showed up at his front door asking several questions. That was when he got a hold of Paxton after five phone calls.
Paxton instructed him not to talk to the Marshals without a lawyer.
When Cogwell asked how he heard about Nate Paul, Cammack said he Googled him. He and Michael Wynne, Paul’s lawyers, later met up in Austin at the last minute.
He was later called to another meeting in Austin -- this time with Paxton and Brent Webster, who played the role of firing whistleblowers after Paxton was reported to the FBI.
Sept. 12, 2023, at 1:05 p.m.
Court resumes.
Continuing his testimony, Cammack said he tried to keep Paxton informed throughout the investigation by forwarding him emails he had received about the case.
On Sept. 25, Cammack said he started issuing subpoenas after receiving a list of who to subpoena from Paul and his lawyer. He said he sent about sending out about 35-40 via email.
After issuing the subpoenas, Cammack said he returned to Houston and received a cease and desist from the Attorney General’s Office and another from Jeff Mateer.
Cammack said he grew frustrated but said Paxton encouraged him to continue working on the investigation.
Sept. 12, 2023, at 12:00 p.m.
The court is in lunch for an hour.
Sept. 12, 2023, at 10:16 a.m.
Brandon Cammack, a Houston attorney who was hired as outside counsel by Paxton to investigate Nate Paul’s allegations about the FBI, was called to the stand.
Cammack testified that in August 2020, he was approached by AG Paxton and Paul’s attorney about a criminal case. A meeting was set for Aug. 26, 2020.
Cammack said he drove to Austin to meet with Paxton who said he was looking to hire a “special prosecutor” to investigate potential violations of the Texas Penal Code.
On Sept. 3, Cammack said he received a contract to work with Paxton and agreed to a $300 hourly rate.
The next day, Cammack testified that he was set to meet with Paul and his attorney. He said he had never met Paul and had only searched for him on the web.
During the meeting, Cammack said Paul did most of the talking and described him as “energetic” and “passionate.”
Later that day, Cammack testified that he also met with Paxton who said people in his office refused to work on Paul’s case, which is why he had to seek outside counsel.
Cammack testified that he believed his role would be more investigative. He added that he was under the impression he was being hired by the AG’s office through Paxton.
He was then asked to investigate two referrals, one from the Travis County District Attorney’s Office and another regarding mortgage lenders foreclosing Paul’s property. He admitted that he wasn’t familiar with this type of investigation but was up for the challenge.
Cammack said he was asked to communicate with Paxton through the Signal app, in which he used a different number to communicate and prompted Cammack to do the same.
Cammack said the first time he received an official email from the AG’s office was when he got a cease-and-desist letter from Jeff Meteer. Before then, he said he thought all of his communication with Paxton was official. When he asked about receiving official credentials, Cammack said Paxton kept responding that he was working on it.
Sept. 12, 2023, at 10:00 a.m.
The Senate was called to session and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick entered the chamber. The jury was then called into the chamber. Patrick said court started late due to both the prosecution and the defense wanting to discuss an issue before the start of the trial on Tuesday.
(Below is an interactive graphic showing who’s who and how the courtroom is organized.)
SEE MORE KEN PAXTON COVERAGE:
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DAY 4: Private texts, whistleblower memes revealed during AG Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial
DAY 3: Suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton impeachment trial
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