On Wednesday, the much-anticipated testimony of Ken Paxton’s alleged mistress Laura Olson didn’t happen after all, attorney Rusty Hardin “rested” the House’s case when he meant to “pass the witness” and House attorneys made a motion to bar the suspended Attorney General from all future public office if he’s convicted on any of the articles of impeachment he faces.
And then there was the hours-long testimony from former executive aide Andrew Wicker who said he bonded so well with Paxton and his wife, Senator Angela Paxton,that they considered him part of their family. But even he grew uneasy about whether it was the Paxtons or the AG’s friend and donor Nate Paul who was paying for the renovations to the Paxtons’ home.
A key part of the debate between sides Wednesday is whether Paul, now under federal indictment for and charged with eight felony counts of making false statements to financial institutions, actually paid for the Paxton renovations or whether Wicker misunderstood what was happening as Paul was constantly present at the attorney general’s house, overseeing the changes.
On tap for Thursday is a Senate vote on a House motion filed Wednesday that would automatically ban Paxton from future public office upon conviction in any of the impeachment proceedings. To pass, that motion would require a two-thirds majority vote.
After Hardin made his misstep, he admitted he “screwed up,” Paxton’s attorney Tony Buzbee immediately called for a vote to dismiss the charges against Paxton. He later withdrew that motion and the trial will continue Thursday.
Olson had been scheduled to testify Wednesday morning but because of when her appearance as a witness was announced on Tuesday, a 24-hour rule meant she couldn’t testify before 3:53 p.m. Wednesday. By that time, it was announced by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick who is presiding over the Senate proceedings, that she wouldn’t be testifying after all, adding that both sides agreed that Olson “is present but is deemed unavailable to testify.” .
Paxton, who has not attended his trial since the first day and is not required to testify in it, stands accused of misuse of the powers of his office and accepting bribes from Paul. Olson became part of the case because of her alleged relationship with Paxton and the claim that real estate investor Paul helped the AG out by putting Olson on his staff. Angela Paxton is attending the trial but will not be allowed to vote on whether her husband is impeached.
Wicker testified he became concerned when Paxton kept going off book in terms of his official schedule — by not including some of his private excursions including meetings with Paul. He took his concerns directly to Paxton and testified that Paxton told him he was paying for the renovations himself.
Wicker testified he got the impression that Paul was paying for Paxton’s home renovation, but also testified in response to Buzbee’s questions that he is not accusing Paxton of any wrongdoing. He testified that Paul seemed to be overseeing whatever renovations were done at Paxton’s house. Buzbee pointed out that Paxton had paid $121,617 to the contractor doing the work; House lawyer Erin Epley suggested this was done once Paxton became aware that attorneys in his office had reported Paxton to the FBI.
Wicker eventually resigned from the AG’s staff although he continued to receive to receive direct deposits from Paxton’s campaign funds. He testified he brought this up to Paxton who told him to keep the money, but Wicker ended up giving it back to the campaign.
Wicker’s lengthy testimony was followed by that of Blake Brickman, the former deputy attorney general for policy and strategic initiatives, who after establishing his conservative credentials at length, detailed how his relationship with Paxton began to unravel. Brickman began to believe “that Mr. Paxton was breaking the law.” Up until that time in 2020, Brickman said he and Paxton had had a warm relationship.
“He abused the entire office to benefit Nate Paul,” testified Brickman, who was on of the whistleblowers to take their concerns about Paxton to the FBI. He disputed defense claims that the whistleblowers had no evidence when they did this, saying it should have been enough that seven senior members of Paxton’s staff with first hand knowledge came to the FBI with their own eyewitness accounts.
Brickman was not included in the $3.3 million settlement with whistleblowers that Paxton asked taxpayers to cover, because, he said, he didn’t want a certain sum of money. “I wanted to be vindicated.” He said he wanted “Ken Paxton apologize for calling us rogue employees and admit that we did what we thought was right was the first one.
“The second one was the Third Court of Appeals had ruled in our favor that the whistleblower law applies and I wanted him to agree not to dismiss that. I wanted future Texas public servants to know that the whistleblower law applies in the state. [Third] That Attorney General Ken Paxton remove a disparaging statement where he called us rogue employees; it was on the OAG website.”
Paxtron’s impeachment trail is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Thursday.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
