AUSTIN — Attorney General Ken Paxton’s defense team seemingly undermined several key claims in the articles of impeachment lodged against the embattled official as the first week of his impeachment trial in the Senate drew to a close on Friday.
During opening statements, Tony Buzbee, one of Paxton’s lead lawyers, told the senators, “The prosecution and the press will tell a whopping story … [but] it’s a tale of sound and fury; it signifies nothing.”
“You will conclude what I have concluded — there is nothing to this,” Buzbee said, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Over the next few days, Buzbee and his co-counsels, Anthony Osso and Mitch Little, pressed witnesses called by the House Board of Impeachment Managers on key elements of the allegations.
For example, Article II claimed that Paxton “misused his official power to issue written legal opinions under Subchapter C, Chapter 402, Government Code.” More specifically, the article alleged that Paxton caused “employees of his office to prepare [a legal] opinion in an attempt to avoid the impending foreclosure sales of properties belonging to Nate Paul.”
Paul, an Austin businessman and one-time Paxton donor, has been at the center of claims made against the attorney general.
However, Paxton’s defense team said the document in question noted that it was not issued under 402 of the Government Code and was in no way an official opinion.
The website for the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) continues to reflect that the document was “Informal Legal Guidance Concerning Foreclosure Sales.” It was filed under news releases on the website and not included in the section dedicated to official opinions by the attorney general.
The informal guidance, which was prepared by former Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel Ryan Vassar and issued by former First Deputy Assistant Ryan Bangert, stated, “Please note this letter is not a formal Attorney General opinion under section 402.042 of the Texas Government Code; rather, it is intended only to convey informal legal guidance.”
Furthermore, whistleblowers who testified in the trial this past week claimed that “Paxton directed employees of his office to reverse their legal conclusion for the benefit of Paul.” However, documents submitted by the defense indicated that the informal legal guidance did not stop the foreclosure sales on Paul’s properties. Paul had to file for bankruptcy to stop the sales instead — a process independent of the OAG.
Another big assertion the House managers focused on was the hiring of Brandon Cammack as outside counsel for the OAG to investigate a claim made by Paul that the FBI and Texas Department of Public Safety were wrongfully targeting him.
Impeachment Article V reads, “Paxton misused his official powers by violating the laws governing the appointment of prosecuting attorneys pro tem.”
However, Cammack was never hired as a pro tem prosecuting attorney, only as an outside counsel, which the prosecution’s witnesses admitted Paxton had the legal authority to do — although they disagreed with his decision.
Still, witnesses claimed that Paxton disregarded his duty and abused his office by making decisions they believed had no basis aside from helping Paul.
Ryan Bangert testified, “I went to the FBI because I believed … the attorney had abandoned his obligation to serve the people of Texas to the benefit of one person — Nate Paul.”
Similarly, David Maxwell, another ex-OAG employee who reported Paxton to the FBI, said, “It was my opinion that Nate Paul was a criminal and we should not be associating with Nate Paul.”
Maxwell allegedly told Paxton, “If he didn’t get away from this individual … he was going to get himself indicted.”
However, Vassar, another one of the whistleblowers, admitted under oath on cross-examination that the group had gone to the FBI without any evidence, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Little pressed Vassar during his testimony.
“Mr. Vassar, please, I want to get this straight — you went to the FBI on September 30, [2020], with your compatriots and reported the elected attorney general of this state for a crime without any evidence?” Little asked.
“That’s right,” Vassar said. “We took no evidence.”
Vassar later tried to walk back his statement, claiming he had meant that they took no documentary evidence.
The historic impeachment trial is expected to resume Monday at 9 a.m.