AUSTIN, Texas — Suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton's former top assistant Jeff Mateer was back on the witness stand Wednesday on day two of his impeachment trial.
Mateer explained why he resigned in 2020 and then went to the FBI about his former boss and his actions on behalf of friend and donor Nate Paul.
Mateer testified that he first became concerned about Paxton's connection to the Austin real estate developer, who he described as "not a good guy" in 2020. He said he raised concerns with Paxton regarding his potential involvement in a lawsuit involving Paul and the Mitte Foundation, a charitable organization.
Mateer said Paxton had planned to go argue a motion in the lawsuit in Travis County District Court, a move that Mateer described as "remarkably rare" and "inconceivable" for the top lawyer in the state.
Mateer said he called a meeting with Paxton and other top assistants, urging him to "not have any further dealings with Paul and let the lawyers [in the attorney general's office] handle it."
Mateer testified that Paxton agreed but later hired outside attorney Brandon Cammack to help get Paul out of a financial mess. Impeachment managers allege Cammack was hired to harass Paul's business rivals and other perceived enemies before he was arrested by the FBI. Records show Paul called his plan "Operation Deep Sea."
Prosecutor Rusty Hardin then asked Mateer why learning that Paxton had allegedly rekindled an affair was the last straw for him and prompted him to go to the FBI and resign.
Mateer explained that in 2018 Paxton, with his wife State Sen. Angela Paxton by his side, had confessed to his top aides that he'd had an affair. He said Paxton asked for forgiveness in the “very emotional meeting" and vowed the affair was over.
In 2020, Mateer said he learned that Paul had hired the woman involved in the affair and she had moved to Austin and why that was relevant to the allegations against Paxton. That's when he connected the dots.
“Because it answered one of the questions that I kept struggling with: Why would Gen. Paxton jeopardize all this great work that we have been doing in the office of attorney general? Why would he be engaged in these activities on behalf of one person?” Mateer replied. “It seemed to me that he was under undue influence -- at the time I wondered if he was being blackmailed because it was so unlike what I’d experienced with him for four years.”
Mateer said he felt like he'd failed in his duties as the top assistant to the boss who had become his friend.
“I felt like we had been trying to protect Mr. Paxton, on several occasions I’d gone to him," Mateer testified. "I wanted him to come clean."
Mateer and other top deputies met to compare notes regarding Paxton and Paul in September of 2020, after learning that Cammack had subpoenaed a bank that accused Paul of lying to secure a loan. They then went to the FBI the following day.
“By that time, I concluded that Mr. Paxton was engaged in conduct that was immoral, unethical and I believed it was illegal," he explained.
Mateer and three deputies resigned shortly after that and four others were fired. Four of the whistleblowers later sued Paxton but Mateer didn't join the lawsuit.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Tony Buzbee hammered Mateer about why he didn't ask Paxton about the mistress before going to the FBI.
"Wouldn't that be what a trusted confidant would do, somebody who's a trusted friend, somebody who's been trusted to run the office?" Buzbee asked.
He also brought up the allegations that Paxton and Paul used a burner phone and secret emails to hide the affair.
Mateer said his boss had several phones.
"I don’t know, What’s a burner phone?” Mateer asked.
“You know what a burner phone is, you go to 7-11, you can buy it, use it for a certain amount of minutes, throw it in the trash, that’s a burner phone," Buzbee replied.
Mateer answered that Paxton had a flip phone but he didn't know if it was a burner.
When Buzbee asked about Paxton's Proton email, Mateer admitted that he and others in the office used the same Proton email address to prevent others from being able to spy on them.
Things sometimes got heated between the two as Buzbee tried to cast doubt on Mateer's credibility by pointing out that he had deleted all of his emails and text messages even after leaving the AG's office.
He also accused Mateer of removing Paxton's name from correspondence sent on the official letterhead.
"You were involved in staging a coup, weren't you?" Buzbee said.
"Absolutely not," Mateer replied.
"That's what you were up to," Buzbee said. "That's why you went to the governor's office. You were staging a coup, weren't you?"
"Absolutely not," Mateer again insisted.
There were repeated objections by Hardin who accused Buzbee of harassing his witness.
Paxton wasn't in the Senate Chamber for Wednesday's testimony but his wife listened intently as Mateer testified.
WATCH: Buzbee cross-examines Jeff Mateer
