The Texas Report 9/6

The Texas Report 9/6

Recapping day one of the impeachment trial for Attorney General Ken Paxton

Recapping day one of the impeachment trial for Attorney General Ken Paxton

Yesterday, the Texas Senate led by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick held the first day for the impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The trial began at 9:00 a.m., and the first few hours were primarily the Senators (who are jurors) voting on twenty different motions presented by Ken Paxton. These motions were to either quash the impeachment as a whole or eliminate specific articles of impeachment.

Paxton faces 16 articles of impeachment that accuse him of bribery, dereliction, and disregard of official duty. Most of the trial will center on Paxton's relationship with real estate investor and political donor Nate Paul. Paxton allegedly "turned the keys" of the AG's office over to Paul.

These votes were significant because the trial would have been over had things gone Paxton's way. Additionally, the Senators voting for and against Paxton helped paint a fairly clear picture of the likelihood of impeachment.

• Seven Republican senators voted against Paxton's pretrial motions: Flores, Hancock, Huffman, King, Middleton, Nichols, and Springer.

• Five voted for some of the motions: Birdwell, Hughes, Schwertner, Sparks, and Perry.

• Six senators voted with Paxton on every motion: Bettencourt, Campbell, Creighton, Kolkhorst, Hall, and Parker.

Prosecutors need twenty-one votes to convict Paxton, and if we assume that they get all twelve Democrats, they will need nine Republicans.

There are 31 state senators, but Angela Paxton isn't allowed to vote due to being married to Attorney General Ken Paxton. From looking at the five Republicans who voted for and against some motions, there seems to be a realistic possibility that Paxton will be fully impeached. Either way, it's likely a narrow vote with enormous ramifications for Texas.

Following the motions, Patrick laid out rules for the proceeding and ruled that Paxton would not be forced to testify at the trial.

The House impeachment managers didn't express much outward reaction, and Representative Andrew Murr then began his 17-minute opening remarks about the trial.

Paxton's defense, led by Tony Buzbee and Dan Cogdell, followed up with a 59-minute speech (max time of 60 minutes). Buzbee characterized the trial as led by a "drunk" Speaker, Dade Phelan, and blasted the media for their characterization and reporting of the alleged scandals surrounding Ken Paxton.

He essentially said the Attorney General has already been persecuted in the court of public opinion but didn't acknowledge that his side had been paying conservative influencers to rally behind the Attorney General.

The House impeachment managers, led by Rusty Hardin, called Jeff Mateer as the first witness to the stand. Mateer was Paxton's chief deputy and one of the eight former Attorney General employees who met and sent a letter to the FBI explaining perceived transgressions by Paxton.

House lawyer Rusty Hardin spent significant time working to establish Mateer's legal and conservative credentials. Mateer explained that ideologically, he is "certainly far from right of center" and noted former President Donald Trump nominated him to the federal bench.

Mateer's testimony was cut short as the two sides disputed the use of exhibits, leading Lt. Governor Patrick to end the trial for the day.

Our interpretation so far:

• The initial votes on the impeachment charges certainly didn't go his way. Paxton has an uphill battle to convince the Senators to look past all the evidence that's about to be dragged out over the next several weeks.

• House impeachment managers have done a good job justifying the conservative credentials of all the eight whistleblowers, many of whom have and will face character attacks from the AG's defense.

• Paxton wasn't at the trial for most of yesterday, which can't help in the eyes of the senators.

• Through Paxton's former chief deputy, Hardin has already begun making the case about the very unusual behavior Paxton took concerning Nate Paul. Paxton's team has yet to question Mateer and, during a debate over the use of exhibits, didn't seem as coordinated as the House prosecutors.

• This saga has a lot more left, and the trial is expected to take several weeks.

Why this matters:

• The Attorney General's Office is the state's Chief Legal Officer and employs thousands, including over 800 lawyers. That office is responsible for nearly 30,000 cases annually, including enforcing child support orders, protecting Texans against consumer fraud, enforcing open government laws, providing legal advice to state officials, and representing the state of Texas in court, among other things.

• Should Paxton be fully impeached, that would create a significant power vacuum in Texas politics, and many Senators are likely eyeing that seat.

Day 2 of the trial resumes at 9:00 a.m. and can be streamed below.

We will be doing an in-depth recap tomorrow, but we wanted to make sure you had the opportunity to watch it and provide some context on why this is happening.

In May, during the most recent Texas Legislative Session, the Republican-led House of Representatives impeached Paxton on accusations of bribery, dereliction of duty, and abuse of office.

The House impeachment began with an investigation into Paxton after he agreed to settle a lawsuit and pay whistleblowers $3.3 million in taxpayer dollars.

This Trial and most impeachment allegations hinge on Paxton’s relationship with real estate investor and political donor Nate Paul. Paxton is accused of misusing his office to help Paul in return for free home renovations and the investor’s help covering up the attorney general’s extramarital affair by creating fake Uber accounts and hiring Paxton’s mistress. Earlier this year, Paul was charged with eight felony counts of making false statements to financial institutions.

The House impeachment managers allege Paxton hired a lawyer in the Office of Attorney General to carry out Paul’s bidding — allowing him to use the attorney general’s office as his “concierge law firm” and harness its investigative powers to harass business rivals and other perceived enemies.

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick will act as judge, with state senators serving as jurors. The House impeachment managers are supposed to make the first opening remarks.

Since his House impeachment, allies of Paxton and conservative activists have engaged in a significant paid campaign to classify the impeachment as an attempt by democrats to subvert the voter’s 2020 election decision. This has included actively paying conservative social media influencers (without any disclosure) to promote pro-Paxton and anti-impeachment talking points.

Things to Remember:

• There are 16 articles of impeachment being considered by the Texas Senate.

• The 16 articles accuse Paxton of bribery, dereliction, and disregard of official duty.

• Nearly 4,000 pages of evidence provide granular detail of how Paxton allegedly misused his office to help Nate Paul, who was being investigated by federal authorities as his businesses were floundering.

• Republican Senators are facing the most important votes of their political careers, potentially resulting in an upheaval of one of the state’s most powerful politicians. And provide an opportunity for some looking to move into higher office.

Great summary on all the major players involved: