AUSTIN, Texas — Two of suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's former top staffers testified against him Wednesday in his impeachment trial, detailing Paxton's dealings with Nate Paul, the Austin real estate developer at the center of bribery accusations against Paul, and Paxton's alleged confession of his extramarital affair.
On the counter, Paxton attorney Tony Buzbee went on the attack in cross-examination, accusing one of the former staffers of leading a coup against Paxton.
We tracked the key moments from Day 2 of the trial here:
Ex-deputy: Paxton pushed to release sealed affidavit in Nate Paul case
Ryan Bangert, the former deputy first assistant attorney general under Paxton, took the stand Wednesday afternoon and testified that Paxton "was certainly applying pressure to look for any way possible to disclose" a sealed federal affidavit in a case involving Nate Paul, the Austin real estate developer at the center of bribery accusations against Paxton.
Bangert testified that Paxton in late 2019 or early 2020 had asked him to review an open records request regarding the document. Bangert told Paxton that the document could not be released because it could compromise the investigation.
Paxton pushed back, Bangert said, telling him that he didn't think it was fair that a defendant wouldn't have access to a probable cause affidavit against them.
"The attorney general shared with me his view that he had been wronged by law enforcement and was uninterested in having other Texans wronged by law enforcement," Bangert said. "He clearly very skeptical by law enforcement."
Rusty Hardin, the attorney for the impeachment managers prosecuting Paxton, asked Bangert if Paxton continued to ask him about the release of the affidavit.
"He was certainly applying pressure to look for any way possible to disclose the probable cause affidavit," Bangert said. "He did not instruct me to override or overrule our existing precedent at that time. But he was very interested in finding any way he could to have that probable cause affidavit released."
Bangert said he and Paxton "may have just worn each other out" on the issue, and then the COVID-19 pandemic happened and their office turned their attention elsewhere.
Bangert ultimately became one of seven top staffers to accuse Paxton of misconduct in 2020, and Bangert resigned in October of that year, according to the Texas Tribune.
Buzbee accuses witness of 'staging a coup'
Ken Paxton lawyer Tony Buzbee was in attack mode while questioning witness Jeff Mateer, Paxton's former top staffer, and no moment highlighted that more than his questioning shortly before 3:30 p.m.
Buzbee was pressing Mateer on whether he was involved in removing Paxton's name from the Office of Attorney General's official letterhead around the time Mateer began having concerns about Paxton's involvement with Nate Paul, the Austin real estate developer at the center of bribery accusations against Paxton.
Mateer said he didn't remove Paxton's name, though he may have signed a letter that didn't have Paxton's name on the letterhead.
"You were involved in staging a coup, weren't you?" Buzbee told Mateer.
"Absolutely not," Mateer responded.
"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 said.
Buzbee then pulled up the official letterhead of the Office of Attorney General, pointing out the letter in question that was signed by Mateer did not have Paxton's name on it.
"You altered it, didn't you? Buzbee said. "Or you had it altered."
Mateer again denied he altered the letter.
Buzbee brings up George P. Bush
Paxton attorney Tony Buzbee brought this up briefly in his questioning of Mateer before lunch, but he got more into it in the afternoon session: The alleged timing of George P. Bush's law license renewal.
What does George P. Bush have to do with Paxton? He ran against him in the Republican primary in May 2022, ultimately losing to the incumbent Paxton.
Getting back to the trial at hand, Buzbee honed in on when Bush renewed his law license. Buzbee in his questioning to Mateer said Bush filed to renew his law license on Oct. 1, 2020, the same week Mateer resigned from Paxton's office.
"You ever hear that old saying, 'There are no coincidences in Austin'?" Buzbee asked Mateer. "I'm trying to figure out the connection here."
Mateer said he did not speak to Bush, either in 2020 or any other time. Buzbee then moved on to different questions.
Paxton absent again
While testimony continued in the impeachment trial Wednesday, suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton was absent again. He appeared at the trial Tuesday morning, as votes were held on an array of pre-trial motions, and he was present when his attorney, Tony Buzbee, pleaded not guilty on his behalf.
But when the two sides returned from lunch Tuesday, Paxton wasn't there. Buzbee told Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick that the rules called only for Paxton be present at 9 a.m., when the trial began, and Patrick agreed.
Paxton was also absent from the trial Wednesday, though he did post a tweet the night before:
"I want to thank you all for your prayers and support. I will never back down for defending freedom."
Buzbee goes on the attack
Ken Paxton's attorney, Tony Buzbee, got his first chance at cross-examination shortly before noon Wednesday. And he immediately went on the attack, questioning Jeff Mateer, Paxton's former top assistant, about his motives and reasoning for raising concerns about Paxton's involvement with Nate Paul.
Mateer had testified most of Tuesday afternoon and again Wednesday morning about how and why he had concerns in 2020 over Paxton's alleged involvement with Paul, the Austin real estate developer at the center of the bribery accusations against Paxton.
Mateer testified that he ultimately decided to go to the FBI, despite his efforts to protect Paxton as his role of first assistant attorney general.
Buzbee immediately went at that angle in his initial questioning of Mateer.
"In order to protect Ken Paxton, you called the FBI? That's how you protected your friend?" Buzbee said. "Instead of asking him some questions, you instead went to the FBI?"
Buzbee accused Mateer of holding a meeting with other Paxton staffers to "rally the troops" and "get your stories together" before going to the FBI over concerns that Paxton hired a special counsel to investigate an issue for Paul.
Mateer had testified that Paxton did not go through his office's policy process for hiring a special counsel.
Buzbee also questioned Mateer about allegedly removing Paxton's name from official letterhead for the Office of Attorney General. When Mateer said he didn't recall if he did that, Buzbee pounced: "Oh it happened," he told Mateer.
Buzbee asked Mateer if that was legal. Mateer said he did not "personally check" the law.
"I thought you were a rule of law guy?" Buzbee retorted.
Buzbee then circled back to Mateer's testimony about going to the FBI with his concerns about Paxton. Buzbee pointed out that Mateer went to the FBI three years ago and that no arrests or indictments have resulted from those concerns.
"So in three years," Buzbee said, "they've done nothing with the info you've provided them?"
Witness details affair confession
Jeff Mateer, the former first assistant attorney general under Paxton who resumed his testimony Wednesday, detailed a meeting Paxton and his wife, Sen. Angela Paxton, allegedly had with top staffers about Ken Paxton's affair.
Mateer said Paxton revealed that he had been involved in an extramarital affair. He asked his staffers, both from the Office of Attorney General and his campaign, for forgiveness.
Mateer said Paxton "repented" and that his staff "moved on with the expectation that he had made a mistake and we were moving on from it."
Watch Mateer's testimony about the affair:
Mateer said he later learned that the woman Paxton was having an affair with had been hired by Nate Paul. Why was this important to Mateer?
"Because it answered the question, why was he engaging in all these activities on behalf of Mr. Paul?" Mateer said. "It seemed to me he was under undue influence. At times I thought, is he being blackmailed? This was so unlike what I experienced with him for four years. And this was part of it."
Mateer resigned shortly after learning about the affair and Nate Paul's connection to Paxton's alleged mistress.
"By that time, I had concluded that Mr. Paxton was engaged in conduct that was immoral, unethical, and I had good faith belief it was illegal," Mateer said.
High-profile attorneys trade jabs
Aside from the high-stake trial itself, viewers this week are getting a look at a few of the more high-powered attorneys in Texas: Rusty Hardin and Dick DeGuerin for the House's impeachment case and Tony Buzbee and Dan Cogdell representing Paxton.
The two sides make up some of the most experienced trial lawyers in the state, and they've already shown they're not afraid to trade jabs.
During witness testimony Wednesday, Hardin was questioning witness Jeff Mateer about Ken Paxton signing a document to hire a special counsel to investigate something related to Nate Paul.
Buzbee didn't think Mateer answered the question about whether Paxton signing a document would be legal or not.
Hardin apparently took offense to Buzbee's interjection.
"I've made it this far in my life without advice from Mr. Buzbee," Hardin said. "I'm gonna try to make it the rest of my life. I'll ask my questions, and if he objects, that's fine."
Hardin then continued with his line of questioning.
Watch the exchange:
Paxton attorneys withdraw objection
After a delay Wednesday, Ken Paxton's attorney, Tony Buzbee, announced that he was withdrawing their objection over privileged information being shared during testimony. This dispute put the trial on hold Tuesday afternoon, as the two sides worked through what should or shouldn't be allowed.
Instead, Buzbee decided to withdraw the objection entirely, saying Paxton has nothing to hide. Buzbee did say he planned to object to anything that might be considered hearsay. But the overall objection on privileged information, which would have had to be argued in the trial, was being withdrawn.
The morning proceedings delayed testimony until around 10 a.m., when Jeff Mateer, Paxton's former top assistant, took the stand again.
Quieter day at the Capitol
While Tuesday's trial opening saw long lines and big crowds aiming to get a ticket to the trial, Wednesday morning was a much more muted scene. WFAA reporter Chris Sadeghi shared this update, pointing out the differences between Tuesday and Wednesday:
Day 1 recap
The day began with the senators getting sworn in, followed by votes on pre-trial motions, which included Paxton's attempts to get all of the articles of impeachment dismissed.
It didn't work, as all of the votes went against Paxton's motions, including a 24-6 vote against dismissing all articles of impeachments.
Paxton then had the opportunity to plead not guilty on the charges, which he did, via his attorney Tony Buzbee.
The two sides broke for lunch, but Paxton was apparently done for the day -- he didn't return to the trial after the break, which was allowed by the trial rules.
Both sides then delivered opening statements and called one witness, Jeff Mateer. Mateer's testimony was still ongoing when the two sides had to meet with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick over privileged information admitted in court.
And that's where things left off for the day, as Patrick decided to adjourn for the day to get the privileged information sorted out.
Watch the full opening statement from Rep. Andrew Murr, who is leading the prosecution against Paxton:
Watch Paxton lawyer Tony Buzbee's and Dan Cogdell's full opening statement: