Arguments against Texas AG Ken Paxton’s impeachment are crumbling as witnesses failed to provide any evidence to the FBI.
The allegations against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are falling apart as the historic impeachment trial wraps up its first week of testimony.
On Friday, former Office of the Attorney General (OAG) employee Ryan Vassar returned to the witness stand for a second day of cross-examination by defense attorney Mitch Little in the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Austin, Texas. Three other former employees, including David Maxwell, Ryan Bangert, and Jeff Mateer, have also testified this week.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick commended the lawyers on both sides for cooperating with the rules of the Senate trial. As president of the Senate, Mr. Patrick is presiding over the trial with the assistance of former Texas Fifth Court of Appeals Judge Lana Myers.
Mr. Paxton, who pleaded not guilty to 16 articles of impeachment, was present for the trial on Sept. 5, but he has remained absent since. The remaining four of the 20 articles of impeachment were held in abeyance.
His wife, Sen. Angela Paxton, is required to sit through the trial; however, she is barred from voting per the Senate trial rules.
The trial began Sept. 5 and is expected to run through next week.
Impeachment Background
In late May, Mr. Paxton was impeached by the House in a vote of 121-23 on accusations of abuse of powers and bribery following a quiet investigation led by a House committee.
The investigation came after Mr. Paxton settled a case with several former employees who had gone to the FBI in late September 2020 with allegations that their boss had used his office to assist Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, who was entangled in lawsuits. Mr. Paul had donated $25,000 to Mr. Paxton’s campaign in 2018.
A group of former top deputies alleged that Mr. Paul had renovated Mr. and Mrs. Paxton’s at no cost and helped the attorney general cover up an extramarital affair in exchange for legal help from the OAG office. All of the employees either resigned or were fired after making their accusations to the FBI.
In November 2020, four of the employees, Jeff Mateer, Blake Brickman, Ryan Vassar, and David Maxwell, filed a so-called “whistleblower” lawsuit against Mr. Paxton, arguing that they had been fired in retaliation for reporting the alleged crimes.
The FBI investigation led to no charges against Mr. Paxton.
“If you think [KenPaxtoncommittedacrimeaftertheBidenDOJandthedeepstateFBIhavedonenothingafteryearsyouaren’tusingyourcriticalthinkingskillsTheyhavefriedhimandtakenhimoutiftheythoughttheyhadanyevidenceatallTothinkotherwiseisinsane[KenPaxtoncommittedacrimeaftertheBidenDOJandthedeepstateFBIhavedonenothingafteryearsyouaren’tusingyourcriticalthinkingskillsTheyhavefriedhimandtakenhimoutiftheythoughttheyhadanyevidenceatallTothinkotherwiseisinsane” Jonathan Stickland, former Texas Rep. and president of Defend Texas Liberty PAC, wrote on X late Thursday evening.
In February, the case was settled for $3.3 million in February.
Later the same month, Mr. Paxton asked the House Appropriations Committee to pay the settlement. House Speaker Dade Phelan opposed the idea, saying it would be an inappropriate use of taxpayer funds.
In March, the House committee quietly launched an investigation over the allegations made by the former employees.
The House revealed the investigation on May 23. Four days later, the GOP-led House impeached Mr. Paxton.
‘Staging a Coup’
The first days of testimony have mostly focused on Mr. Paxton’s alleged conduct regarding Mr. Paul’s legal troubles.
At the height of the pandemic in 2020, Mr. Paul was facing multiple foreclosures on multiple properties. Mr. Paul’s troubles reportedly started at least a year earlier, resulting in an FBI raid of his home and business, World Class Holdings, in August 2019.
Mr. Paul allegedly complained to Mr. Paxton that the raid was a violation of his rights. Witnesses testified that Mr. Paul asked his “friend” to use his power to probe the FBI’s raid of his property. In June, Mr. Paul was indicted on eight felony counts of making false statements to lenders between March 2017 and April 2018. Mr. Paxton is not mentioned in the indictments.
Mr. Mateer, the House impeachment managers’ first witness, told the state senators he had been concerned about his boss’s behaviors for months before he and the other senior advisers went to the FBI.
He said it finally made sense to him when he discovered that Mr. Paxton had hired an outside lawyer to conduct an investigation on Mr. Paul’s behalf. He said he also learned that Mr. Paul had employed the woman with whom Mr. Paxton had an extramarital affair.
“I concluded that Mr. Paxton was engaged in conduct that was immoral, unethical, and I had the good faith belief that it was illegal,” Mr. Mateer testified earlier this week.
Mr. Mateer and his colleagues testified that they had no choice but to report their boss to the FBI when they refused their advice for him to cut ties with Mr. Paul.
He also claimed Mr. Paxton hired an outside lawyer to conduct an investigation on Mr. Paul’s behalf regarding the Mitte Foundation, a family trust that invested in World Class.
During cross-examination, defense lawyer Tony Buzbee pointed out that the OAG had agreed not to intervene unless another inquiry was made to the OAG involving Mitte, which it received.
Mr. Mateer said he was unaware of the second inquiry that led to the legal hiring of a young Houston lawyer, Brandon Cammack, who began subpoenaing banks.
Mr. Buzbee questioned Mr. M
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