By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ
McALLEN, Texas | Week One of troubled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's much-watched trial in the Texas Senate ended today with witnesses for the prosecution again laying down a storyline that said Paxton was acting too much on behalf of his friends and not overly concerned about appearances or the law.
The 60-year-old Paxton has been a familiar fixture in Texas law & order as the state's highest ranking legal official since he was first elected in November 2014. Paxton won reelection in 2018 and in 2022. That political success aside, well, things are not looking good for him now.
This from the statesman.com: [ Before trial, both sides were given 24 hours to present their case and to question the other sides' witnesses. Heading into next week, House prosecutors have 13 to 14 hours remaining, and for Paxton's side the available time is similar. Barring any lengthy delays, this could be over at the low end of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's two-to-three-week estimate.
Through the trial's first four days - it began Tuesday because Monday was a holiday - the House called four witnesses. All four are former aides in the Attorney General's office who resigned or were fired after they made a whistleblower complaint against Paxton to the FBI in 2020.
The latest to testify was David Maxwell, a former Texas Ranger who served as the AG's law enforcement director. In testimony Friday, Maxwell said he cautioned Paxton about getting involved with Austin developer Nate Paul, who had requested Paxton's office to investigate the actions of law enforcement officials and a federal judge in a 2019 raid at his home.
Maxwell said Paul had a PowerPoint of six individuals he wanted the attorney general's office to investigate. "If we followed it we would have committed several federal crimes," Maxwell said.
There are eight whistleblowers in all. Given the time limitations for the House prosecutors, it remains to be seen if they will get to the remaining four. ]
The trial resumes Monday.
Paxton 's lawyer has said the suspended A.G. will not testify. That's a big question mark for all concerned, as some legal minds have opined that Paxton needs to personally defend himself. Plus, still to be considered are the details surrounding Paxton's super-close friendship with Paul that included Paul's hiring of a woman said to have been having an affair with the very-married Paxton.
Seated in the courtroom's gallery all week has been Paxton's wife, Angela (shown waving in photo above), a state senator representing a Dallas area constituency. She has been barred from voting in the case.
And there is still no word about any of this from Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
Based on what we know and what we have heard during the trial, we'd say Paxton's ouster is a foregone conclusion....
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I think you are right. He's pretty much out. It's just a mystery why Gov. Abbott okayed this and what Paxton may have done to anger him. But we'll know that sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteThe Abbott angle is interesting.
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