Texas AG Ken Paxton ‘turned the keys’ of his office over to wealthy pal in corrupt scheme: prosecutors

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton “turned the keys” of his office over to a wealthy donor and pal as part of a corrupt scheme, prosecutors argued as the top lawyer’s impeachment trial got underway Tuesday.

Paxton, 60, pleaded not guilty to 16 articles of impeachment just before opening statements began in the Lone Star State Senate in a case accusing him of breaking the law to help wealthy donor and Austin real estate developer Nate Paul.

“Mr. Paxton turned the keys of the office of the attorney general over to Nate Paul so that Mr. Paul could use the office and power of the people’s law firm to punish and harass perceived enemies,” said Republican state Representative Andrew Murr — who is prosecuting the case.

Murr called for the 31 state senators — who will be the jury in the case — to remove the three-term AG from the post he’s held since 2015, saying Paxton’s alleged scheme hurt “innocent Texans.”

“Mr. Paxton should be removed from office because he failed to protect the state – and instead used the power of his elected office for his own benefit,” Murr said.

The senate panel only needs a two-thirds majority, or 21 senators, to oust Paxton from office on 16 of the 20 articles that were approved by the House.

His wife Rep. Senator Angela Paxton is barred from voting at trial, although she is required to attend the proceedings.

“He betrayed his constituents and the sacred public trust that has been given him,” Murr said. “And in Texas we require more from our public officials than to merely avoid being a criminal.”

Meanwhile, in their own fiery opening remarks, lawyers for Paxton said the case was “a whole lot of nothing” and cautioned democracy hangs in the balance if just 31 senators have the power to overturn the election result of some 31 million voters — who reelected Paxton despite knowing the charges he faced.

“We are living on the wet end of democracy right now,” Paxton lawyer Dan Cogdell said. “Is it up to the voters or is it up to politicians to see if he stays in office? Your decision is literally about democracy in this state.”

But Murr attempted to preempt this argument when he claimed “the voters did not and do not know the whole truth.”

Another defense attorney, Tony Buzbee, said the voters had all the pertinent facts about the allegations which were laid out in a civil case brought by whistleblower former aides to Paxton — who catalyzed the investigation against him.

Buzbee also claimed the impeachment was a politically motivated move which came just days after Paxton called for Senate Speaker Dade Phelan to resign after he was allegedly appearing on the house floor while drunk.

Buzbee called the probe into Paxton “rushed,” “secretive,” “poorly planned and wholly unsupported by evidence” and said his client hasn’t been able to defend himself publicly against the myriad allegations because of a gag order.

“If this misguided effort is successful …the precedent it would set would be perilous for any elected official in the state of Texas,” Buzbee said.

Paxton — an ally of former President Donald Trump — has been temporarily suspended from office pending the outcome of the trial.

Paxton is not expected to testify at the trial where he faces charges including abuse of public trust, unfitness for office and bribery.

Only three other sitting state officials have been impeached in the state’s 200-year history and it has been over a century since a major state official has faced impeachment, with Gov. James E. Ferguson being the last in 1917.

The impeachment was triggered after Paxton asked lawmakers to approve $3.3 million in taxpayer funds to go toward settling a lawsuit with four of his former staffers who accused him of abusing his position and being fired for speaking out. The house legislators didn’t approve Paxton’s request.

A group of eight of Paxton’s deputies told the FBI in 2020 the AG hired an outside law firm to look into the FBI’s case against Paul to help prevent Paul’s properties from foreclosure. The staffers claimed Paxton pressured them to help Paul in other ways too.

In exchange, Paul allegedly bankrolled home renovations for Paxton’s million-dollar Austin home and gave a job to Paxton’s mistress Laura Olson.

The trial — which is expected to last for several weeks — continued Tuesday afternoon with the first witness, Paxton’s former first assistant Jeff Mateer, beginning testimony.

Mateer was one of the whistleblowers who resigned over concerns his boss was abusing his position.

Mateer testified he was “concerned” about Paxton’s active involvement in a Paul case.

“I urged him not to have any further dealings with Nate Paul,” Mateer said, noting that Paxton then promised to “allow the professionals in the office to handle this matter.”

The FBI has an open investigation into Paxton and Paul’s relationship.

Paxton was separately indicted on securities fraud in 2015. That case is still pending.

Paul, 36, was also indicted in Austin federal court in June for allegedly making false statements to banks to secure over $170 million in loans.

With Post wires