Paxton trial updates: Defense team has six hours more than prosecution left to present its case

Ken Paxton’s defense team called its first witness Thursday morning: Justin Gordon, the head of the open records division in the attorney general’s office since 2015.

It’s a change from Wednesday evening, when Paxton’s lawyers called Michael Gerhardt to testify. He is an impeachment expert at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but he never spoke before the trial was adjourned.

Paxton’s lawyers did not explain the change in their first witness.

Two of the articles of impeachment involve Gordon’s division. They allege Paxton abused and misused the open records process to help Nate Paul, the Austin real estate investor and Paxton campaign donor whose relationship with Paxton is at the center of the case.

— Patrick Svitek

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced Thursday morning that suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton’s defense team has a large time advantage over the House managers as they start calling their own witnesses to mount a defense in the impeachment trial.

Paxton’s lawyers have 8 hours and 38 minutes left. Meanwhile, the House impeachment managers have a little more than two and a half hours.

Each side was given 24 hours to present evidence and question and cross examine witnesses.

After the defense rests their case, each side will have one hour of rebuttal time and one hour each for closing arguments.

— Kate McGee

Former President Donald Trump has broken his silence on the Texas Senate impeachment trial of his longtime ally Ken Paxton.

In a social media post late Wednesday night, Trump said “establishment RINOs” — Republicans In Name Only — “are trying to undo” the attorney general’s reelection in 2022 “with a shameful impeachment of him.” He raised the possibility that if permanently removed from office, Paxton could be replaced by a “Democrat, or even worse, a RINO.”

If Paxton is convicted, Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, would get to appoint his successor until a special election next November.

Trump had blasted Paxton’s impeachment by the House in May, but he stayed quiet in the lead-up to the trial and during its first six days. The presiding officer of the Senate — and of the trial — is Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, another close Trump ally.

Trump’s post, made on his social media platform Truth Social, did not mention Patrick or the Senate but served as a vocal reminder of his opposition to the overall process.

— Patrick Svitek

Suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial is expected to resume at 9 a.m. Thursday with testimony from his defense team’s first witness.

Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday afternoon — but they did so accidentally, setting off a chain of events that included a defense motion to dismiss the articles of impeachment as unproven by the prosecution. However, Paxton’s lawyers withdrew their motion for a directed verdict while senators stepped away to debate the motion privately.

Earlier Wednesday, Paxton’s former executive aide, Drew Wicker, testified that he grew increasingly uneasy with Paxton’s behavior in 2020 — and particularly with his close relationship with Nate Paul, an Austin real estate investor and political donor.

Wicker recalled a conversation between Paxton and a contractor about a kitchen renovation at Paxton’s Tarrytown home in which the contractor said he needed to “check with Nate” about changes that would add $20,000 to the cost. Paxton’s lawyer produced two photographs of Paxton’s kitchen, one taken before the renovation in 2020 and the other from last month. Wicker confirmed they showed no changes to the counters, cabinets or stove.

The day began with prosecutors calling as a witness Laura Olson, who according to testimony had an affair with the married Paxton. However, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the trial’s presiding officer, announced that Olson would have to testify in the afternoon because she had not been given 24-hour notice. Patrick later said both sides had agreed that Olson was “deemed unavailable” to serve as a witness.

Olson’s relationship with Paxton is central to the impeachment case. House managers allege that Paxton misused his office to help Paul; in exchange, Paul hired Olson to work at his business so she could be closer to Paxton.

— Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera