Ken Paxton's defense and prosecution wrestle over rules ahead of impeachment trial
With less than two months before the start of the Senate impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton, attorneys defending and prosecuting the case are taking their arguments over pretrial rules public.
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — With less than two months before the start of the Senate impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton, attorneys defending and prosecuting the case are taking their arguments over pretrial rules public.
On Wednesday morning, Paxton's defense attorneys made a motion for pretrial scheduling order or conference with proposed discovery deadlines ahead of the trial. Discovery is the process in which legal parties exchange information about the case, in order for both sides to have an awareness of what witnesses and evidence might be presented or who will during trial.
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, who will preside as the judge in the case, complied with the request from Paxton's legal team, issuing a discovery order late Wednesday evening.
In their request for official deadlines, Paxton's lawyers said "a scheduling order is necessary to ensure a full and fair trial," because of the "House's ongoing intransigence" and the "Senate's unintentional oversight in not providing for a pretrial discovery schedule."
In a statement to Nexstar, Dick DeGuerin and Rusty Hardin — the prosecution team acting on behalf of the House managers — denied accusations that they were not sharing information and documents with the defense team.
"We had already offered to voluntarily exchange information and documents with Paxton’s legal team but they ignored us, choosing to complain instead of to cooperate," DeGuerin said in a statement to Nexstar. "We will happily comply with Lt. Governor Patrick’s discovery order and have started that dialogue."
Republican Rep. Jeff Leach, — who sits on the board of impeachment managers — echoed DeGuerin and Hardin's statement in a tweet, calling for "the games to end so the evidence can speak."
"I am happy and eager to comply with this discovery order, which orders information that had already been offered by the House Managers and which would’ve been quickly disclosed," the Plano representative said. "I’m also hopeful Attorney General Paxton will, without delay, be forthcoming with evidence required to be produced under the Texas Rules of Evidence."
It comes as the latest tension between the two parties ahead of the highly anticipated and unprecedented Senate trial to impeach the suspended attorney general, which is set to begin Sept. 5.
Last week, Tony Buzbee — Paxton's lead defense attorney — announced that Paxton himself will not testify in the trial. Senators, which will act as jurors, could still compel him to appear before the court of impeachment through a subpoena.
“We will not bow to their evil, illegal, and unprecedented weaponization of state power in the Senate chamber,” Buzbee told the Texas Tribune, a KXAN partner.
The House overwhelmingly voted to impeach Paxton in late May on accusations of various crimes and misconduct dating back to when he was first elected to office in 2015. The majority of the 20 articles of impeachment are centered around bribery and misuse of office allegations, saying Paxton used his power as attorney general to help campaign donor Nate Paul, an Austin real estate investor.
About two weeks after Paxton was impeached, Paul was indicted on eight charges related to making false statements and false reports to mortgage lending companies and credit unions. Attorneys for both Paul and Paxton have said their cases are unrelated to each other.