Ken Paxton impeachment trial continues with Paxton's former personal assistant testifying
UPDATE 6:37 P.M.: Patrick adjourned court for the day. No testimony was heard from Gerhardt. The trial will resume at 9 a.m. Thursday.
UPDATE 6:25 P.M.: Patrick said the motion was withdrawn and the questioning of witnesses would resume.
The defense calls professor Michael Gerhardt.
UPDATE 6:19 P.M.: Senators are called to report back to chambers by 6:25 p.m.
UPDATE 6 P.M.: Paxton announced via social media he will go to Maine next week to speak with Tucker Carlson about the past two weeks in Texas politics.
UPDATE 5:46 P.M.: The defense team filed a motion about a directed verdict. Senators need to vote on that. It is unclear if that's what's happening now, which would end the case.
UPDATE 5:26 P.M.: House managers rested. Trial is taking a short break.
After finishing his direct questioning of Brickman, Rusty Hardin accidentally rested the House impeachment managers' case without allowing Paxton's defense team to cross-examine the witness.
He tried to take it back, But the defense said they reserved the right to recall the witness later.
Patrick said they're standing at ease to let the eligible jurors meet, which does not include Angela Paxton.
UPDATE 5:06 P.M.: Paxton's alleged mistress was expected to take the witness stand Wednesday, but Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced early Wednesday evening that Laura Olson had been "deemed unavailable to testify."
He didn't further clarify, except to say that both the House managers and Paxton's defense team had agreed to that statement in writing.
According to Texas court rules, a declarant can be considered unavailable as a witness in a few different instances, including:
- If the court rules a privilege applies
- If the person refuses to testify about the subject matter despite a court order to do so
- If the person testifies to not remembering the subject matter
Appellate attorney David Coale of Dallas tells CBS News Texas that Olson may have refused to testify and taken the 5th.
UPDATE 4:53 P.M.: Trial resumes with Brickman on the stand.
UPDATE 3:46 P.M.: Trial is on break. Patrick said it shouldn't take long, he has to conduct a hearing outside the presence of the jury.
UPDATE 3:15 P.M.: Brickman was fired in 2020, weeks after reporting Paxton to the FBI. He testified that despite initially having a good relationship with Paxton, he grew concerned about the attorney general's relationship with Nate Paul.
He first heard Paul's name from Andrew Wicker, who was his direct report, in March or April of 2020. He said over the next few months, he saw behavior that made him concerned Paxton was breaking the law.
UPDATE 2:58 P.M.: Whistleblower Blake Brickman is the next witness. Brickman is a former deputy AG for policy and strategy initiatives.
UPDATE 2:44 P.M.: Another piece of evidence Buzbee pointed to was an invoice showing Paxton's $121,000 payment to Cupertino Builders for home renovations. The firm is owned by an employee of Paul's.
House attorney Erin Epley noted the date on the invoice, October 1, 2020, and pointed out that it was paid after Paxton's top deputies went to the FBI.
During his recross-examination, Buzbee said Paxton instructed the invoice to be paid on September 30, 2020.
UPDATE 1:38 P.M.: Trial has resumed.
Wicker is being put back on the stand. Article 10, constitutional bribery, was put in front of senators, specifically referencing Paul providing renovations to Paxton's home.
After a lunch break, Paxton's defense lawyer Tony Buzbee specifically pushed back against Impeachment Article X, which alleges constitutional bribery, claiming Nate Paul provided renovations to Paxton's home in exchange for legal assistance from and access to the attorney general's office.
Buzbee presented before and after pictures of the kitchen in Paxton's Austin home that Wicker said looked the same in 2020 and 2023, as though no work had been done on the cabinets and countertops.
Wicker previously testified that he overheard conversations between Paxton and the lead contractor doing the repairs and renovations on Paxton's home that made him uncomfortable. He said he got the impression Paul was paying for the renovations.
During the prosecution's redirect questioning, she pushed back on the suggestion that the unchanged countertops and cabinets prove constitutional bribery had not been committed.
"Is it fair to say if you knew people were looking into your countertops and your cabinets, you might choose at that point not to get them upgraded?"
Wicker responded with a "yes" as the defense objected. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick sustained that objection.
Wicker also testified that he heard the phrase "I'll have to check with Nate" three times during one conversation.
UPDATE 12:07 P.M.: Trial is on a lunch break. Set to resume at 1:00 P.M.
UPDATE 11:15 A.M.: Trial resumes
During Wicker's cross-examination, Paxton's defense attorney pushed back on the claim that there is anything wrong with Paxton using encrypted communications methods.
Wicker said Paxton got a Proton email through the attorney general's office because he was traveling to China and he wanted a more secure way to communicate. He also said other people in the office also had Proton Mail.
Buzbee also asked Wicker about allegations that Paxton communicated through a burner phone.
"If a burner phone is a plastic phone that you can buy at a convenience store with a certain amount of minutes and when it's over, you break it and throw it in the trash, General Paxton never had anything like that, did he?" Buzbee asked, breaking a plastic flip phone in his hands to demonstrate his point.
Wicker answered, "Not to my knowledge, no."
In October 2020, after FBI wanted to question Wicker, he says Paxton offered him a promotion to also be involved with policy. Wicker said he turned it down, resigned from the office Nov. 2, 2020 and later left Paxton's campaign. Wicker also said he's not accusing Paxton of bribery.
"You don't have any actual knowledge that Nate Paul ever did anything for General Paxton other than buy a lunch, isn't that right?" Buzbee asked.
Wicker replied: "That is correct."
In other notes, House managers proposed amending trial rules to automatically prevent Paxton from serving in Texas office again if senators vote to convict him on impeachment charges. Under current rules, hat would require another vote. Lt. Gov. Patrick says senators will vote on this Thursday morning.
UPDATE 10:50 A.M.: Trial is on a break.
In the summer of 2020, while Paxton's Austin home was being repaired due to storm damage, he stayed at the Omni Hotel.
Wicker testified that on one occasion, while he was waiting for the elevator, he overheard a "lively" conversation behind the elevator doors. When the doors opened, he saw Paxton and a woman inside. He said the woman quickly walked away.
"It did spur some questions," he said of the incident. Wicker later identified the woman as Laura Olson.
Wicker said he overheard conversations between Paxton and the lead contractor doing the repairs and renovations on Paxton's home that made him uncomfortable. He said he got the impression Paxton was paying for the renovations, which included $20,000 worth of new cabinets and countertops.
When he brought the concerns to Paxton, the attorney general assured him there was nothing inappropriate happening. But Wicker said he left that conversation "still uneasy."
UPDATE 10:30 A.M.: According to Wicker, there were 12 to 18 times he went to a restaurant with developer Nate Paul and Paxton for lunch, but that he did not sit with them. He also said there were six times he was with Paxton when they went to Paul's business, and Paul went to the attorney general's office once.
Wicker also recalled delivering and picking up items from Paul three times during May and June of 2020, including a manila envelope and a phone that Paxton had left at Paul's office.
When Wicker was contacted by the FBI in the fall of 2020, he said that despite being offered a lawyer with the attorney general's office, he retained his own.
He said he wanted to protect his own interests, and he assumed an attorney with the Texas Office of the Attorney General would be looking after the office, not him.
UPDATE 9:35 A.M.: Andrew Wicker, Paxton's former personal assistant, has been called to testify.
Wicker testified that his employment with the attorney general's office began in September 2019.
When describing his relationship with the Paxtons, Wicker said he considered the attorney general a friend who he was able to "talk like" with and Sen. Angela Paxton was "nothing but loving and caring" with him.
He also said he's just here to tell the truth and is not part of a conspiracy to go after Paxton.
UPDATE 9:20 A.M.: Paxton attorney Mitch Little is cross-examining Ray Chester.
Chester, an attorney with the Mitte Foundation, was the first witness on the stand Wednesday morning. The Mitte Foundation is an Austin-based nonprofit that's now run by Breaking Bad actor RJ Mitte.
In 2020, Paxton asked his deputies to intervene in a lawsuit the nonprofit had filed against donor Nate Paul over alleged fraud.
UPDATE 9:05 A.M. Wednesday: The prosecution has called Laura Olson, Paxton's alleged mistress, to testify.
Since witnesses need 24 hours notice before testifying, Olson isn't eligible to be called to testify until around 4 p.m. today.
At the beginning of the day, the House impeachment managers had five hours and 17 minutes remaining to present its case. Paxton's defense team still had nine hours and 57 minutes left.
AUSTIN (CBSNewsTexas.com) – On the sixth day of the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, senators heard from four different witnesses, including one whose name has been spoken repeatedly over the course of the past week.
The first witness called to the stand Tuesday, and the one whose testimony took most of the day, was Brandon Cammack. He's the outside counselor hired by Attorney General Paxton in 2020 to investigate real estate developer Nate Paul's claims about a raid conducted on his house and businesses.
Another revelation from Cammack's testimony Tuesday was the attorney general's use of encrypted messages.
Cammack said Paxton requested he download the Signal app and sent emails from a Proton Mail account.
After Cammack's hours-long testimony, another attorney took the stand. Joe Brown is a former U.S. Attorney appointed by former President Donald Trump. He was also considered for the role of outside counsel, the role Cammack eventually got.
Watch the trial live at 9 a.m. in the player above or on the CBS News Texas YouTube channel.
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