AUSTIN, Texas — Attorneys in Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial are gearing up for day two.
Day one had plenty of tension. A lot of the big players were in one room for the first time since the House voted to impeach Paxton. Ken Paxton and his wife, Texas Senator Angela Paxton, acknowledged their supporters who were in the public section of the senate gallery.
The senators got seated for what’s expected to be a weeks-long trial and the big-name lawyers made their presence known as well.
Senators voted on pre-trial motions. Paxton’s lawyers filed motions to try to toss out the articles of impeachment against him, but one by one, the senators struck down those motions, signaling they were ready and willing to move forward with hearing evidence for all of the allegations against Paxton.
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Opening statements followed and then they got to the first witness, Jeff Mateer. He’s the former first assistant attorney general of Texas and one of the whistleblowers in Paxton’s office.
Mateer talked about his concerns about Paxton’s conduct when the attorney general wanted to get involved in a lower court case. That case involved Nate Paul, the Austin real estate developer with whom Paxton is accused of taking bribes, and the Mitte Foundation, a non-profit that sued Paul.
“I wanted to find out what Mr. Paxton was thinking because it was just inconceivable to me that he would want to go to district court to argue something,” he said.
“Did you know at that time on whose behalf the argument would have in effect, been?” prosecutor Rusty Hardin asked Mateer.
“Yes, I would have known,” Mateer said.
“And who was that?” Hardin asked.
“Well, it would have been in the Mitte Foundation at the urging of Mr. Paul,” Mateer said.
Mateer will return to the witness stand Wednesday to finish his testimony and attorneys will then move on to their next witness.
A lot of information the public didn’t know is coming out now that the testimony has started.
There were definitely speed bumps, mainly due to objections and quarrels between the lawyers over the procedure. That is slowing things down and is likely to prolong this process. While the Senate is essentially transformed into a courtroom, this is new for everyone. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is the presiding judge, but he’s not a judge outside of this context, so he’s learning and making decisions on the fly to try to keep things fair.