The second week of suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment trial kicked off early Monday and included testimony from another former top aide — the latest witness to describe Paxton’s ties to Nate Paul, the real estate developer at the center of the impeachment.
But first, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick opened the fifth day of proceedings by telling the court testimony would likely end later this week. As of Monday morning, Patrick said both sides had used about 14 and a half of their allotted 24 hours of time. This means the 30 senators who will decide Paxton’s fate could begin deliberations as soon as Thursday.
Patrick also said that, over the next few days, he intended to continue proceedings into the early evening, adding there would be no pauses in action on the Senate floor until verdicts were decided on the multiple charges against Paxton.
If convicted, Paxton would be permanently removed from office.
Paxton was suspended from his office in May when a Texas House investigation found Paxton allegedly committed bribery and abused the power of his office, among many other allegations, in connection with Austin real estate developer Nate Paul. Paxton was removed after 121 Texas House members, including 60 Republicans, voted for his removal.
Paxton has maintained his innocence throughout, and he is not required to be present for the trial.
‘Why is the attorney general involved in this?’
Testimony Monday by Mark Penley, Paxton's former deputy attorney general for criminal justice, focused on Paxton’s insistence the office and several of his high-ranking assistants involve themselves in investigations into Paul, including Paul’s allegations he was being unfairly targeted by law enforcement.
Penley was one of several former Paxton employees who met with the FBI after unsuccessful attempts to convince Paxton to sever ties with Paul.
Early in his testimony, Penley explained how he met Paxton in Dallas and was asked to have a phone call with Paul. The Austin businessman wanted to present his case to Penley in hopes he’d investigate Paul’s allegations. Penley said he was immediately puzzled about why Paxton was going to such lengths.
“I thought, ‘Why is the attorney general involved in this? Why is he wanting me to know about this?’ This is not a state matter, from what I could tell,” he said. “And I thought it was very suspicious that someone who is the target of a federal investigation was reaching out to the attorney general of Texas for legal help.”
Penley added that Paxton privately told him he didn’t have complete faith in federal investigators due to personal experience.
“He made comments to me that indicated he was very mistrustful of law enforcement, and he made a comment as to how he felt about how he'd been treated by law enforcement, which was in a negative way,” Penley said.
Paxton continued to press the issue, Penley testified, saying the attorney general eventually became more disillusioned with his senior staff when they didn’t see a reason to follow through. Penley said that during a meeting with Paul and his attorney, Michael Wynne, the real estate developer became visibly upset when Penley and David Maxwell, a longtime Texas Ranger and former head of law enforcement in the Attorney General’s Office, said the investigation shouldn’t move forward.
“[Their reaction] was very unhappy. They pushed back immediately,” he said.
He later added that Paul implied the staff was under his direction.
“Mr. Paul acted like we didn't understand who the real boss was. It wasn't the attorney general. It was him. That was his body language,” testified Penley.
Paxton’s defense team later pressed Penley on why, if he thought Paul was in control, he didn’t speak to Paxton directly. Attorney Mitchel Little cited Penley’s own notes where he said he thought Paxton was being played.
“Did you tell your boss you thought that Nate Paul was ‘playing him’?” he asked. “You had his phone number, right?”
Penley said he was trying to figure out if Paxton would eventually see his relationship with Paul was dangerous.
“I was trying to find a way to convince him to listen to reason and get away from this investigation, which I thought was highly dangerous to him and harmful to the office,” Penley said.
Testimony is ongoing. Monday afternoon Katherine “Missy” Cary, the former chief of staff in the attorney general’s office, took the witness stand.
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