During the sixth day of the impeachment trial of suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, House Impeachment managers called the special prosecutor hired to investigate the AG’s and his donor’s investigators, including investigators who were also investigating Paxton and his securities fraud cases. The “prosecution” witness from the bank said they had to stop the foreclosure of Paxton’s donor properties and that pulling the foreclosure due to the AG opinion letter benefitted the donor.
Day 7 begins House Managers calling Texas AG Ken Paxton’s mistress, Laura Olson. The defense objected to the timeliness of notice to the witness. Olson cannot be called until the afternoon session.
House Managers then called the Mitte Foundation attorney Ray Chester.
The defense cross-examined the bank CEO about the federal moratorium during the COVID pandemic and said there wouldn’t be any foreclosure. CEO of the bank testified he did not know anything about a federal moratorium, but the “Midnight Opinion” letter written at the direction of the AG stopped the foreclosures of Natin “Nate” Paul’s properties.
Paul is an Austin real estate developer who donated $25,000 to Paxton. He is also the employer of Paxton’s mistress. Paul is named in the articles of impeachment. He is specifically mentioned in six of the articles and is implicated in most of the others.
FBI agents arrested Paul in June. The 23-page indictment includes eight counts of making false statements to financial institutions.
At the beginning of Day 6, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick announced that House Impeachment managers had used 19 hours, and Paxton’s defense had used 12 hours. Each side is allotted 24 hours for their case in chief- and defense.
Brandon Cammack, whom Paxton hired, said, “I did everything at his supervision, and I got affirmation from him.” The young criminal defense lawyer from Houston said he forwarded most of the emails from Paul and his attorney to the AG.
Cammack also got assistance from Paul’s attorney to draft grand jury subpoenas. Nate Paul’s attorney assisted him with a subpoena form and provided Cammack with timelines and lists of individuals who were suspects or witnesses or somehow associated with the referral from the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. Nate Paul filed a complaint with the Travis DA alleging federal officials had altered a search warrant to broaden the scope. The feds had raided Paul’s home and properties.
Paxton’s former Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation, Darren McCarty, testified that the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) only got involved in a handful of charity cases and that the attorney general had never before interjected himself in charitable trust litigation. Nate Paul was involved in very contentious litigation with the Mitte Foundation and had agreed to settle for over $10 million. Paul wanted the OAG to intervene and do away with the settlement.
McCarty, a former law clerk to a federal appellate judge on the Fourth Circuit, “did not believe the intervention was necessary.” “I believed the intervention was unfounded, unethical, and was actually attacking a charitable trust instead of helping a charitable trust,” he testified. He added that the State of Texas had been used against a charitable trust.
Article I of the Articles of Impeachment charges Paxton with violating his duties as AG by failing to protect a charitable organization. Specifically, “Paxton caused employees of his office to intervene in a lawsuit brought by the Roy F. & JoAnn Cole Mitte Foundation against several corporate entities controlled by Nate Paul. Paxton harmed the Mitte Foundation in an effort to benefit Paul.”
Ken Paxton has not attended days two through six of the impeachment proceedings and only attended as required to enter a plea. Paxton pled not guilty through his defense lawyer, Tony Buzbee.
RELATED ARTICLES:
- Texas AG Wanted His Office to Probe Feds Investigating Him, Witness Testifies
- TEXAS AG IMPEACHMENT DAY 4: Ranger Warns AG About ‘Crooked’ Donor
- TEXAS AG IMPEACHMENT DAY 3: OAG RESOURCES ‘Highjacked’ to Benefit Donor; AG Wanted to Investigate Law Enforcement, Staff Meets with FBI, ‘Mutiny’ Denied
- Texas Ranger ‘Icon,’ Whistleblower Warned AG Paxton He Could Get Indicted
- TEXAS AG IMPEACHMENT DAY 2: Key Witnesses, Blackmail Concern, Mistress, Fiery Defense, Alleged Coup
- Texas AG Impeachment Day 1: Paxton Pleads not Guilty, Dismissal Denied, Key Witness Testifies
- Texas Attorney General’s Impeachment Trial Begins
Video archives of the impeachment proceedings can be found on the Texas Senate Impeachment website. The articles of Impeachment, the Rules of Procedure for the Court of Impeachment, the witness list, all motions filed by the House Board of Managers and Paxton’s defense team, exhibits, and other potential evidence are posted on the Texas Senate Court of Impeachment website.
Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She is a trial lawyer who practices criminal defense and family law in East Texas. She was a Texas prosecutor and family court associate judge in Harris County, Texas.
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