Ken Paxton impeachment trial | Defense rests, closing arguments Friday morning

AUSTIN, Texas - The impeachment trial of suspended attorney general Ken Paxton turned to the defense on Day 8.

Paxton's team called witnesses to refute seven days of testimony that Paxton abused his power and broke the law to help Austin real estate developer and campaign donor Nate Paul. At the end of the day, the defense rested. 

Prior to the court adjourning, Tony Buzbee, Rusty Hardin and lawyers from both sides had an extensive conversation with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. He did not say about what specifically, but they could have been trying to sort out rebuttal witnesses and a jury charge. 

While this is a political court, normal courts tend to hash things out the day before the jury gets the case.

Closing arguments will begin Friday morning at 9 a.m.

Both sides will have an hour for closing arguments, then it goes to the Senate jurors to decide the suspended attorney general's fate.

MORE ON KEN PAXTON IMPEACHMENT

21 of the 30 voting state Senators must vote to convict Paxton on at least one article of impeachment to have him removed from office. 

If removed, Senators would then take a second vote to bar Paxton from holding public office in the state again. It would also require a two-thirds vote.

There are 12 Democrats and 19 Republicans in the State Senate. State Senator Angela Paxton (R-Collin County), the attorney general's wife, is not allowed to vote under trial rules.

Throughout the trial so far, we've heard from former senior staff in the AG's office. On Thursday, the trial focused on current staff.

OAG employees testified that General Paxton did nothing wrong, from the termination of four whistleblowers in the lawsuit that ultimately brought this impeachment proceeding to an open records request released to Paul and his attorney about FBI and DPS raids at his home and businesses.

"We see a lot of procedural irregularities. These are pretty unique though in the way that they came in," testified Justin Gordon, the head of the attorney general's open records division.

Gordon said there were procedural violations and irregularities in how the FBI and DPS replied to open records requests from the attorney for Nate Paul.

Some of the FBI responses were completely redacted, so Paul's attorney would not know how to challenge why the information request was being withheld.

MORE FROM THE PAXTON IMPEACHMENT TRIAL:

• Paxton's mistress 'unavailable to testify,' prosecutors rest
• Outside lawyer says he was fired by Paxton team, was not paid for work
• Whistleblower: AG pushed for donor's 'insane' theories
• Texas: The Issue Is - A look at first week of testimony in AG Ken Paxton impeachment trial
• Ex-OAG director of law enforcement: 'Nate Paul was a criminal'
• Contentious, emotional testimony in Day 3 of trial
• Whistleblower describes meeting where AG admitted to affair
• Ken Paxton impeachment trial begins, suspended AG cannot be compelled to testify

There were two open records requests: one in 2019 and the DPS request in 2020.

Gordon said the office considered the irregularities "unique," so they did not agree with them.

[ATTORNEY: "Was any information released to Nate Paul as a result of the OAG's ruling?"]

"No," Gordon replied.

[ATTORNEY: "Then we move on to the 'big request' the DPS in the Spring of 2020. Was any information released to Nate Paul as a result of that ruling?"]

"No," Gordon replied again.

[ATTORNEY: "Then we get to this third request and what we see is the FBI provided a copy of the brief directly to the requestor itself, is that right?"]

"That's right," Gordon testified.

Prosecutor Leah Graham wasted no time trying to show Ken Paxton was heavy-handing the release of protected information to Paul, his friend and campaign donor, through those public information requests.

[GRAHAM: "Mr. Paxton did not summon you to his office to talk about this file?"]

"Yes, he did," Gordon replied.

[GRAHAM: "He did not put pressure on you to either not rule against the requestor or to release the information?"]

"No, I would not. I would not classify it as pressure," said Gordon.

[GRAHAM: "In your conversation with Ken Paxton about this particular DPS file, can you recall any other time when Mr. Paxton directly came to you and got involved on a DPS open records request?"]

"No," said Gordon.

Austin Kinghorn, from the legal counsel department, took the stand next.

Paxton lawyer Chris Hilton tried to pull down each article of impeachment through him.

Much of the focus was on the report generated by the Attorney General's Office clearing Paxton of any wrongdoing that was released in 2021.

[HILTON: "Were you ever directed by anyone to make sure that the report was a sham?"]

"No," Kinghorn replied.

[HILTON: "Were you ever directed to make sure it included false or misleading statements?"]

"Absolutely not," Kinghorn said.

Attorneys for the whistleblowers blasted that report at the time of its release as self-baked exoneration of Paxton.

Four of eight whistleblowers filed a lawsuit.

OAG HR Director Henry De La Garza testified they all had performance problems which led to their dismissal.

"Not seeing eye-to-eye, it's going to break down, and then it eventually starts trickling down and we start losing efficiency and there could be worse problems," testified De La Garza.

In cross exam prosecutors pointed out all four were separated from employment within six weeks of going to the FBI.

Prosecutor Daniel Dutko ended his questioning with a common refrain used by the defense and a touch of sarcasm.

"Have you ever heard of the expression there's no coincidences in Austin?" said Dutko.

The phrase "no coincidences in Austin" has been used by the defense since opening statements by lead defense counsel Tony Buzbee.

You can watch complete coverage of the trial on FOX4News.com and FOX 4's YouTube channel.

Large portions of the trial will also be available on FOX LOCAL along with highlights and analysis.

Live Blog

6:06 p.m. | A crowd of lawyers has been gathered around Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick for about 30 minutes. Still no announcement on if they plan to have closing arguments tonight or wait until tomorrow morning.

5:33 p.m. | Dorfman is done. Tony Buzbee announces the defense has rested.

5:12 p.m. | The defense passes Dorfman to the prosecution after a long explanation of lawsuits that the office has brought under Paxton. The lawsuits include those against Google and the Biden administration.

5:07 p.m. | Dorfman testifies that Paxton is not named in the lawsuit from the whistleblowers and that the decision to pay the settlement with public funds is up to the legislature.

5:03 p.m. | Dorfman testifies that Article VIII is not true.

4:58 p.m. | Dorfman is now testifying to the $3.3 million settlement agreement with the whistleblowers. He says it is more than the office wanted to settle for, but felt it was a good deal.

3:57 p.m. | The trial is now on break.

3:41 p.m. | Dorfman is also testifying about Article VIII. 

3:38 p.m. | Dorfman is testifying about the report on the whisteblowers compiled by the Office of the Attorney General. The report is the subject of Article VII.

3:15 p.m. | Grant Dorfman, the deputy first assistant attorney general, is now on the stand.

3:06 p.m. | House prosecutors lay out the timeline of how soon after reporting Paxton to the FBI that the whistleblowers were fired. Many were fired within a month and a half. Attorney Daniel Dutko uses the defense's line "there are no coincidences in Austin."

2:55 p.m. | The House managers asks De La Garza about whistleblower protection. Prosecution lawyers argue that whistleblower act protections would not apply if the employees talked with their boss before reporting to law enforcement. The defense has argued earlier in the trial that the whistleblowers should have gone to Paxton before reporting him to the FBI. 

2:52 p.m. | The defense passes the witness.

2:50 p.m. | De La Garza testifies that no one told him the 4 former employees that they had to be fired because they had gone to the FBI.

2:45 p.m. | De La Garza says the 4 were "high-level policymakers" who are exempt from whistleblower protections. 

2:42 p.m. | De La Garza also is speaking about Mark Penley's firing. De La Garza says he learned the Penley failed to put some information in court filings. De La Garza testifies that he believes all 4 firings were justified.

2:33 p.m. | De La Garza says David Maxwell had a pattern of not going the HR for guidance sensitive matters. 

2:29 p.m. | De La Garza is now discussing the firing of Ryan Vassar. De La Garza says Vassar displayed  "insubordinate tone and demeanor," concern over the handling of grants and performance issues.

2:23 p.m. | De La Garza is explaining the firing of whistleblower Blake Brickman. De La Garza said that Brickman had evidence of misconduct prior to going to the FBI and insubordination to his new boss. Brickman was one of four whistleblowers who received a $3.3 million settlement in a lawsuit against Paxton and the state. Brickman gave fiery testimony on Wednesday about how he felt he was treated by the office.

2:18 p.m. | FOX 4's Steven Dial and Shaun Rabb discussed the trial so far and what to expect moving forward this afternoon. You can watch it here: 

2:17 p.m. | De La Garza discusses the members of the Office of the Attorney General who resigned or were fired.

2:00 p.m. | Henry De La Garza is the next witness called to the stand by the defense. De La Garza is currently the HR Director and a longtime employee of the OAG.

12:19 p.m. | Kinghorn has been dismissed. The court is now on lunch break.

11:55 a.m. | Kinghorn is being questioned about several of the articles of impeachment. He denies knowing anything about wrongdoing and said if he knew anything about illegal actions in the office that he would "step away."

11:45 a.m. | Kinghorn testifies about an attorney general report regarding the office's whistleblower report to the FBI. Kinghorn says the report was not directed to include false or misleading statements. Article VII alleges that Paxton directed employees to "conduct a sham investigation into whistleblower complaints."

11:27 a.m. | Kinghorn testifies that during COVID the AG's Office was working quickly to issue guidance about the pandemic. He says it was not rare to have short deadlines. The prosecution have argued that Paxton pushed COVID-related guidance to block gatherings for foreclosure sales ahead of Nate Paul's properties going up for sale.

11:21 a.m. | While Ken Paxton is not in the Senate chambers he is keeping track of what people are saying. Paxton tweets that he supports the post of support by former president Donald Trump last night and asks for people to donate to his campaign.

11:14 a.m. | The defense calls Austin Kinghorn to the stand, the associate deputy attorney general for legal counsel.

10:46 a.m. | Gordon testifies that outside of this time Paxton never came to talk to him about a DPS open records request.

10:39 a.m. | Gordon testified that Paxton called him to his office, but denies that he faced pressure from Paxton to release the document from DPS and FBI.

10:36 a.m. | Gordon testifies that no information about the FBI raid of Nate Paul's home was released to Paul from the OAG.

10:31 a.m. | The defense passes the witness. The prosecution will cross-examine.

9:44 a.m. | Here is Impeachment Article III against Paxton. Much of Gordon's testimony is likely to be centered around this article.

9:39 a.m. | A prolonged sidebar by attorneys with Lt. Gov. Patrick. The defense is looking to place an unredacted document into evidence. Prosecutors say the documents have only been released from Paxton to Paul. 

9:32 a.m. | Gordon testifies that law enforcement missed some important deadlines when they were looking for an opinion from the Attorney General's Office about records requested by Paxton donor Nate Paul. The missed deadlines by DPS led to the idea that the records were public.

9:27 a.m. | The clock is running down for both sides. If the both sides use all of their time testimony will likely wrap up on Friday. Both sides will give closing statements and then the Senate jurors will have a decision (or two) to make.

9:13 a.m. | The defense calls Justin Gordon to the stand. Gordon is the OAG assistant Attorney General and Division Chief of Open Records. Article III of impeachment involves Paxton abusing the open records process.

9:04 a.m. | Michael Gerhardt is expected to be the first witness called by the defense. Gerhardt is a constitutional scholar who is a professor at the UNC School of Law. Gerhardt's bio on the UNC website says he was the only joint witness in the Clinton impeachment proceedings in the House and that he was one of four constitutional scholars called by the House Judiciary Committee during President Trump's impeachment proceedings.

8:17 a.m. | Testimony is expected to start at 9 a.m. Thursday. Late last night former president Donald Trump posted on Truth Social about the trial. Trump said "establishment RINOS are trying to undo [Paxton's] election with a shameful impeachment of him." He went on to say "It's a SAD day in the Great State of Texas." Paxton is an outspoken supporter of Trump.

What to Expect Thursday

Prosecuting attorney Rusty Hardin announced the House managers had rested late on Wednesday.

Prosecutors proposed a motion that would change the rules of the trial. It would make anyone voting to convict Paxton automatically vote to bar him from ever holding public in the state again.

As the rules currently stand, Senators will vote twice. The first would be to convict the attorney general, then, if 21 of the 30 voting Senators approve removing Paxton, a second vote would be held to bar him from holding office in the future.

The Senators are expected to vote on the motion Thursday afternoon.

The defense offered a motion of its own on Wednesday, asking for directed verdict, which would allow Senators to vote to dismiss the articles of impeachment.

Patrick said the defense withdrew the motion.

Testimony is expected to wrap up late Thursday or Friday, followed by closing arguments.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has said the trial will continue through the weekend if needed.

Two of the most anticipated possible witnesses in the trial will not take the stand: Paxton himself, and Paxton's mistress, Laura Olson.

MORE FROM THE PAXTON IMPEACHMENT TRIAL:

• Paxton's mistress 'unavailable to testify,' prosecutors rest
• Outside lawyer says he was fired by Paxton team, was not paid for work
• Whistleblower: AG pushed for donor's 'insane' theories
• Texas: The Issue Is - A look at first week of testimony in AG Ken Paxton impeachment trial
• Ex-OAG director of law enforcement: 'Nate Paul was a criminal'
• Contentious, emotional testimony in Day 3 of trial
• Whistleblower describes meeting where AG admitted to affair
• Ken Paxton impeachment trial begins, suspended AG cannot be compelled to testify

On Wednesday, House managers called Olsen to testify, but Patrick ruled that she was "unavailable to testify," despite being at the Capitol.

Patrick said both the House managers and defense agreed to her not taking the stand.

On the first day of the trial, Lt. Gov. Patrick ruled that Paxton could not be compelled to testify. He left the Senate chambers at the lunch break and has not returned for the rest of the trial.

Despite not speaking at the trial, it appears the attorney general will be making public statements soon.

On Wednesday night, he posted on social media that he would sit down with former FOX News host Tucker Carlson next week to discuss "politics in Texas over the last two weeks."

Only time will tell if he is still the sitting attorney general in Texas at that time.