Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial in the Texas Senate is expected to resume at 9 a.m. Monday. During the first week of proceedings, whistleblowers who reported the suspended attorney general to the FBI for potential criminal activity portrayed Paxton as obsessed with helping friend and political donor Nate Paul, who was under state and federal investigation for his business dealings. House impeachment manager Andrew Murr, a Republican from Junction, said Paxton “turned the keys of the office of attorney general over to Nate Paul.”
Ryan Bangert, Paxton’s former deputy first assistant attorney general, testified that Paxton took an unusual interest in matters involving Paul, such as pressing to overrule two agency decisions that denied Paul access to documents related to an active investigation into Paul’s businesses.
Lead defense lawyer Tony Buzbee equated reporting Paxton to the FBI as an act of betrayal. By going behind the attorney general’s back, he said, Paxton was deprived of the opportunity to answer questions that could have cleared matters up. Defense lawyer Mitch Little picked up the theme during his aggressive questioning of Ryan Vassar, former deputy attorney general for legal counsel, on Thursday.
Little suggested that Paxton was due the courtesy of a warning after nurturing Vassar’s career. More importantly, Little added, failing to let Paxton address their concerns left Vassar and other whistleblowers uninformed when they met with FBI agents to accuse Paxton of criminal acts.
Buzbee argued that impeachment could become a common tactic of political retribution if Paxton — a leading conservative legal voice on abortion, immigration and other key issues — were to be convicted and removed from office. He also argued that impeachment thwarted the will of Texas voters.
Murr rejected arguments that impeachment violated democratic principles, saying the framers of the Texas Constitution did not believe elections alone could protect the public from abusive officeholders.
Disclosure: Tony Buzbee has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
