Buzbee gets Paxton aquittal

Hometown attorney Tony Buzbee led a team in the case in defense of Kenneth Paxton, Jr., Attorney General of the State of Texas. On May 27, 2023, the Texas House of Representatives approved 20 articles of impeachment against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The impeachment trial centered around political donor and friend, Austin real estate developer, Nate Paul. On that day the Texas House of Representatives voted 121-23 to impeach Paxton which also resulted in Paxton’s suspension.

On September 16, 2023, Paxton was acquitted on all articles of impeachment. “Under the Texas Constitution, the House of Representatives is vested with the power of impeachment and the Senate has the duty to conduct the trial (Article XV, Sections 1 and 2).”

Afterward, Buzbee responded to questions from the Journal- Sun. When looking back at the case and the charges leveled against him, Buzbee said that “the evidence was completely lacking. The House of Representatives, who brought the charges, put us in a position to prove General Paxton’s innocence. We did that in a big way. This is the first impeachment trial in Texas history where the accused actually won. I’m very proud to have led the team and am proud of this resounding victory.”

Buzbee went on to say that within the Paxton Camp, there is now “relief. The General is motivated and energized to go back to work for the people of Texas. He is ready to continue the important work of the AG’s office.”

Lastly, Buzbee went on to say that “anyone can make false claims. It’s unfortunate but that’s the case. The media picks up on false claims and repeats the false claims over and over. That’s also unfortunate. We were able to put together a strong legal team in a short amount of time, which I’m proud to have led. Our team completely exonerated the Attorney General of the false charges and now he can go back to work doing what millions of voters elected him to do.”

Paxton said, in a statement to the Texas Tribune, that he was the victim of a “sham impeachment coordinated by the Biden Administration with liberal House Speaker Dade Phelan and his kangaroo court.”

Not everyone agreed however, during the trial as noted in an NPR article, “in a memorable moment” for the prosecution, GOP state Rep. Jeff Leach, an impeachment manager who represents Paxton’s district, spoke directly to the Republican majority in the Senate, saying he considered Paxton a political mentor and a dear friend.

“I have loved Ken Paxton for a long time,” Leach said, holding back tears. “I’ve done life with Ken Paxton — we’ve traveled together, attend church together.”

But Leach said Paxton had been given ample opportunities to answer questions about the allegations and decided not to do so. He urged senators to convict “no matter how painful.”

At the trial. Texas Tribune noted that “multiple witnesses came forward “including former senior officials under Paxton, who testified that the attorney general had repeatedly abused his office by helping his friend, struggling Austin real estate investor Nate Paul, investigate and harass his enemies, delay foreclosure sales of his properties and obtain confidential records on the police investigating him. In return, House impeachment managers said Paul paid to renovate Paxton’s Austin home and helped him carry out and cover up an extramarital affair with a former Senate aide.” However, it wasn’t ultimately enough to persuade the Senate.

The process started on May 27, 2023, when the House of Representatives adopted 20 Articles of Impeachment against Warren Kenneth Paxton, Jr., Attorney General of the State of Texas (H.R. No. 2377, 88th Legislature, Regular Session).

On May 29, the final day of the 88th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature, the House Board of Managers delivered the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate. The House Board of Managers were Representatives Murr, chair; A. Johnson, vice chair; Geren; Moody; Canales; Leach; Longoria; Meyer; Cain; Vasut; Spiller; and Gamez.

The Senate conven(ed) on September 5, 2023, as a high court of impeachment to consider the Articles of Impeachment (S.R. No. 36, 88th Legislature, 1st Called Session). “September 5, 2023: The Texas Senate—by a vote of 24-6—rejected a motion by Paxton’s defense team to dismiss the 16 articles of impeachment that the Senate rules set as the focus of the trial. [14] Twelve Republicans and 12 Democrats voted against the motion to move forward with the trial.” – Texas Tribune.”

Ken Paxton, who is the 51st Attorney General of Texas was elected on November 4, 2014, and sworn into office on January 5, 2015. He was re-elected to a second term in 2018 and a third term in 2022.

On May 27, 2023, the House voted 121-23 to suspend the attorney general and refer him to the Senate for trial on charges of bribery, abuse of office and obstruction. According to the Texas Tribune, it was the first such impeachment since 1975.

Afterward the house impeachment, Paxton called the vote “illegal, unethical, and profoundly unjust.”

The impeachment came after the House Committee on General Investigating, comprised of three Republicans and two Democrats, on May 25, “unanimously voted to file articles of impeachment against Paxton. The articles marked the culmination of an investigation the committee opened into the attorney general after he asked lawmakers to fund a $3.3 million settlement in a whistleblower lawsuit filed against him by a group of former employees,” says in an article in courthouse news.

“In their lawsuit, the whistleblowers accused Paxton of retaliating against them after they reported him to the FBI for using his office to benefit Austin real estate investor and campaign donor Nate Paul. There are also allegations that Paxton accepted bribes from Paul in the form of renovations to his Austin-area home.”

Nate Paul is currently charged with eight felony counts of making false statements to financial institutions. “The Austin real estate investor was a central figure in allegations that led the Texas House to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton last month. One of the charges against Paul has ties the impeachment allegations.” – Texas Tribune.

There were also allegations that he got a job for a woman the attorney general was said to be having a secret extramarital affair with.

At the end of the trial, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued a rebuke of the Texas House for initially bringing charges “with virtually no time for 150 members to study the 20 articles,” and praised the Senate for the work they did through the trial.

“I have been unusually quiet since the Texas House of Representatives sent the Senate articles of impeachment against the attorney general on very short notice in the final hours of the regular legislative session. The law requires the Senate to receive the articles and have a trial, and once I realized I would be the presiding officer and judge, I thought it was my duty to be quiet on this issue. I have done my very best to do so these last 3 months and these 2 weeks. I spent most of the last 90 days preparing for this trial. I have issued over 240 subpoenas, studied numerous motions, written multiple orders, read hundreds of pages of history, rules, and documents, and worked on every detail of this trial.

“I want to thank the Rules Committee for their tireless work writing rules that some have said are the finest rules ever written on impeachment. All of us studied past impeachments from across the country to learn from the mistakes of past impeachments so we would not make the same errors. The Rules Committee should be proud of their work.

“I want to thank the Senators for doing their work in a thorough, thoughtful, and professional manner. I watched all of you each day listening intently to every word of testimony. Many of you took notes non-stop.

“I feel it is important to set the full record straight for the future, so the full picture of what happened is known and how it was we got here.

“In the House, the vote to send articles of impeachment against the attorney general to the Senate happened very quickly, with virtually no time for 150 members to study the 20 articles. The Speaker and his team rammed through the first impeachment of a statewide-elected official in Texas in over 100 years while paying no attention to the precedent.

“In the past, the target of the investigation was notified and invited to attend with counsel and given the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses that were placed under oath before testimony was taken. At the conclusion of past House investigations, the evidence was laid out for weeks for House members to evaluate before they took their vote on articles of impeachment.

“Rep. John Smithee, a long-time House member, spoke on the House Floor during the impeachment vote in May. He was one of only 23 who voted against impeachment. Rep. Smithee said that the House could not legitimately impeach AG Paxton on the record because there was no record to send to the Senate. He said the House was not following the rule of law, and he said the House approach was, and I quote: Hang ’em now and judge them later.” Rep. Andrew Murr, the Chair of the House Investigating Committee, said on the House floor: “This [The House] is not the body that does the fact-finding, the fact-finding occurs in the Senate and oath for any witness would occur there.”

“That is just not true. As Rep. Smithee said, the last House impeachment of a statewide-elected official, in 1917 of Gov. Ferguson, was conducted like a full trial in the House before it was sent to the Senate. Witnesses were put under oath and cross-examined by the defendant. Rep. Smithee said this time, no House witnesses were put under oath and the defendant was denied the right to cross-examine. Rep.

Smithee told his fellow members the House process was indefensible and that the House did not follow the rules of evidence and their case was based on triple hearsay that would never be allowed in court.

“I think Rep. Smithee’s speech was one of the most honest and courageous speeches I have ever heard in the House.

“In the next regular session, we must amend the Texas Constitution on the issue of impeachment, because the way the constitution is currently written allowed this flawed process to happen this year. Any testimony given in a House impeachment investigation must be given under oath and the target must be allowed to be present with a lawyer to cross-examine the witnesses. Otherwise, people can say anything without any accountability or need to be truthful because there is no threat of perjury.

“The House must also give all House members a minimum of 2 weeks to review all evidence given under oath before voting on such a serious matter. Had they done these two things in May, this trial may never have happened.

“When the House sends articles of impeachment to the Senate, the official in question should not be put on unpaid leave through the process. The federal system does not allow that. President Clinton and President Trump did not have to step down from their duties during their impeachment process. This is not a partisan issue.

“We owe it to future legislatures to make these changes so that no future official impeached by the House, whether Republican, Democrat, or Independent, is subjected to the way this impeachment process occurred.

“Millions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted on this impeachment. 31 Senators and a large Senate staff that made this trial possible have put their family life, jobs, and businesses on hold for 3 months after being here already from January to June.

“I will call for a full audit of all taxpayer money spent by the House from the beginning of their investigation in March to today. We will provide our costs as well that were forced on us by the House impeachment. One big difference is that the Senate did not pay a huge team of outside lawyers and investigators.

“An impeachment should never happen again in the House like it happened this year.”

In response to the speech, ‘Democrats argued it showed he was never a neutral player in the trial’.

“Dan Patrick’s aggressive speech revealed that he has been biased against justice from the start of the” trial, the Texas Democratic Party said in a tweet. Patrick “will always choose his friends over the facts.”

Though the impeachment trial is over for Paxton, NPR notes that “Paxton’s acquittal doesn’t mark the end of his legal problems.

“The FBI is investigating the allegations made by his former employees. According to The Associated Press, prosecutors took grand jury testimony from Paxton’s former personal aide Drew Wicker in August.

“Paxton has also been under indictment since 2015 for securities fraud, but has yet to face a trial.”