AUSTIN — The defense team for Attorney General Ken Paxton rested its case-in-chief against the impeachment effort by the House on Thursday.
The ending of the defense came after a day of testimony from current employees at the Office of the Attorney General, who asserted Paxton had not abused his office or acted unlawfully. The defense had several hours of time left to continue calling witnesses, so the decision to rest came as a surprise.
Still, it was significantly different from how the House ended its case. As reported by The Dallas Express, the House Board of Managers accidentally rested after lead attorney, 81-year-old Rusty Hardin, misspoke while a witness was still on the stand and before the defense had the opportunity to cross-examine him.
The trial has centered on the allegations made by the House against AG Paxton as detailed in the articles of impeachment voted on by legislators. The House members accused the thrice-elected AG of abusing his office in various ways to benefit an Austin businessman and one-time campaign donor, Nate Paul.
During the opening statements, Rep. Andrew Murr (R-Junction) claimed, “Mr. Paxton turned the keys of the office of the attorney general to Nate Paul.”
On the other side, Tony Buzbee declared to the Senate, “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 promised.
Throughout the course of the trial up to this point, several witnesses called by both the House and the defense have appeared to undermine key elements of the impeachment articles.
For example, Paxton’s former personal assistant Drew Wicker testified that all concerns he had about Paul paying for home renovations at Paxton’s Austin residence had been effectively “put to bed.” The defense showed Wicker pictures of the house that seemingly revealed none of the renovations in question had been carried out and bank records that suggested Paxton paid for other updates himself, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Similarly, Brandon Cammack, the outside legal counsel hired by Paxton to investigate Paul’s claims of wrongdoing by law enforcement, also indicated that the impeachment article founded on his actions was false.
The article contends that he was a “prosecuting attorney pro tem” despite his contract evidently identifying him as “outside counsel.” Cammack also maintained that Paul’s claims were “convincing” and “concerning” instead of “baseless” as alleged by the House.
The defense has worked to punch holes in the remaining impeachment articles as well, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Furthermore, several of the whistleblowers who reported Paxton to the FBI admitted that they had not presented documentary evidence of wrongdoing but rather relied on deductions they made based on their perspectives of different events. Additionally, several of them could potentially have violated the law themselves by allegedly sending sealed grand jury subpoenas to their personal lawyer Johnny Sutton.
Sutton, a longtime ally of former President George W. Bush, has been the center of a defense theory suggesting that George P. Bush, a political rival to Paxton, had a part in trying to unseat the elected AG, as reported by The Dallas Express.
It was revealed that George P. Bush renewed his long-defunct law license the day after the whistleblowers went to the FBI and had apparently used the Texas General Land Office to pay Sutton’s law firm nearly $180,000.
Sutton, who has represented the whistleblowers for nearly three years, has done so without charging them or entering into a fee arrangement, a highly unusual practice.
Next in the trial, the two sides will make their closing arguments and offer rebuttals. Then, the senators will deliberate on whether to acquit Paxton.
To beat the charges, Paxton needs 10 votes in his favor for each of the impeachment articles.