Ken Paxton impeachment trial continues with questioning of second witness Ryan Bangert
UPDATE - 5:00 p.m.: The second witness called in the Paxton trial is Ryan Bangert, the former Deputy First Assistant AG, another whistleblower.
UPDATE - 3:00 p.m.: Mateer testified that he went to the FBI regarding his concerns about Paxton's relationship with Paul.
"The problem is the office is being used for the benefit of one person," Mateer said.
The cross-examination between Buzbee and Mateer has been chippy at times.
Buzbee: "You could have put this all to bed if you talked to your boss."
Mateer: "I attempted to talk to him."
Buzbee: "No."
Mateer: "I did."
Buzbee: "Take it easy."
Mateer: "I did, sir."
House impeachment manager lawyer Rusty Hardin objected to Buzbee's questions during cross-examination as Buzbee and Mateer went back and forth about the source of a draft of the letter sent to the FBI by whistleblowers.
"He is simply harassing the witness by putting a lot of adjectives in there," Hardin said before lt. Gov. Dan Patrick released everyone for a brief break.
After returning from the 10-minute break, cross-examination continued with Mateer pushing back against Paxton's lawyer who accused him of using state money for personal use.
"I wasn't and I didn't," Mateer said. "And I wouldn't."
"You were staging a coup, weren't you?" Buzbee asked while accusing him of altering the letterhead of the Texas Attorney General's Office.
Hardin then began his cross-examination of Mateer.
AUSTIN (CBSNewsTexas.com) – After months of speculation, there was some clarity Tuesday about what we can expect to see and who we can expect to hear from during the impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton.
After the lunch break on day one, Paxton didn't return to the chambers. On day two, he wasn't there at all.
During the first day of the historic trial, Paxton pleaded not guilty to all impeachment articles he's facing during this trial and the first witness—one of the eight whistleblowers—took the stand.
Jeff Mateer, one of the witnesses and former top deputy to Paxton, explained on day two why he thinks Paxton's affair is relevant to the case.
"...One of the questions that I kept struggling with is, why would [Attorney] General Paxton jeopardize all the great work that we had been doing in the office of attorney general?" Mateer said. "Why would he be engaged in these activities on behalf of one person?"
While Mateer was on the stand, Paxton's attorney Tony Buzbee brought out a graph showing Nate Paul's donation to Paxton's election campaign in 2018. It made up 0.37% of Paxton's donations.
Day two of the trial continues Wednesday at 9 a.m. You can watch a live stream of the trial in the player above or on our YouTube channel here.
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