{"id":1964256,"date":"2023-07-04T23:53:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T03:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/paxton-wont-testify-at-his-impeachment-trial-defense-team-calls-it-a-kangaroo-court\/"},"modified":"2023-07-04T23:54:41","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T03:54:41","slug":"paxton-wont-testify-at-his-impeachment-trial-defense-team-calls-it-a-kangaroo-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/paxton-wont-testify-at-his-impeachment-trial-defense-team-calls-it-a-kangaroo-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Paxton refuses to testify, defense team deems trial unfair."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpaxton-wont-testify-at-his-impeachment-trial-defense-team-calls-it-a-kangaroo-court%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1964256&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<h2>Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Refuses to Testify at Senate Impeachment Trial<\/h2>\n<p>Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, will not testify at his own Senate impeachment trial, his defense team said Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Tony Buzbee, Paxton\u2019s attorney, said in a statement obtained by The Epoch Times that the impeachment is a baseless attack on his client by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/paxton-wont-testify-at-his-impeachment-trial-defense-team-calls-it-a-kangaroo-court\/\" title=\"Paxton refuses to testify, defense team deems trial unfair.\">political foes intent<\/a> on damaging one of America\u2019s most prominent legal conservatives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is about silencing conservatives, eliminating an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/absolutely-not-swalwell-claims-his-relationship-with-suspected-chinese-spy-didnt-compromise-u-s-security\/\" title=\"\u2018Absolutely Not\u2019: Swalwell Claims His Relationship With Suspected Chinese Spy Didn\u2019t Compromise U.S. Security\">effective political opponent<\/a>, and overturning an election,\u201d said Buzbee, an outspoken Houston attorney who said that Paxton was the victim of a \u201ckangaroo court.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey had the opportunity to have Attorney General Paxton testify during their sham investigation but refused to do so,\u201d Buzbee continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will not bow to their evil, illegal, and unprecedented weaponization of state power in the Senate chamber,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for the House managers leading the impeachment did not return a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-liberty-university-sues-jerry-falwell-jr\/\" title=\"Report: Liberty University Sues Jerry Falwell, Jr.\">message seeking comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Overthrowing the Will of the People?<\/h2>\n<p>Paxton, one of the GOP\u2019s most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-ag-ken-paxton-impeached-by-gop-controlled-state-house\/\" title=\"GOP-led State House impeaches Texas AG Ken Paxton.\">prominent legal combatants<\/a> who has fought against what he\u2019s described as federal government overreach into state affairs, was elected to a third term as Texas AG in November 2022<\/p>\n<p>He <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/texas-ag-ken-paxton-impeached-by-gop-controlled-state-house_5296071.html\">was impeached<\/a> by Texas\u2019 GOP-led House of Representatives on articles including bribery and abuse of public trust, triggering his suspension from office pending the outcome of a trial in the state Senate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis success in defending religious liberty, the right to life, the Second Amendment, and individual freedoms have made him a target,\u201d Buzbee said in Tuesday\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, Paxton said in a statement following a Texas House panel\u2019s recommendation of impeachment proceedings against him that Democrats and some of their Republican allies were trying to \u201coverturn the results of a free and fair election\u201d and that the move was an \u201cillegitimate attempt to overthrow the will of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His trial in the Texas Senate is scheduled to begin Sept. 5.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3796349\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/04\/29\/Border-Paxton-Epoch-Times-510A5443-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton at a press conference in Anzalduas Park near McAllen, Texas, on April 28, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson\/The Epoch Times)<br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<h2>Background<\/h2>\n<p>Paxton had been under FBI investigation for years over accusations he used his office to help a donor, Austin real estate developer Nate Paul.<\/p>\n<p>In October 2020, a number of top deputies in Paxton\u2019s agency told the FBI that they believed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-ag-barr-authorizes-federal-prosecutors-to-pursue-substantial-allegations-of-voting-irregularities-before-2020-election-is-certified\/\" title=\"BREAKING: AG Barr Authorizes Federal Prosecutors to Pursue \"Substantial Allegations\" of Voting Irregularities Before 2020 Election is Certified\">attorney general<\/a> had used his office to help Paul, who had donated $25,000 to Paxton\u2019s reelection campaign in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>All of the whistleblowers were fired or resigned, but the allegations led to a federal investigation into Paxton.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Justice later took over the investigation, but no federal charges have been filed against Paxton or Paul.<\/p>\n<p>A half dozen or so former OAG employees filed complaints against or sued Paxton for wrongful dismissal, claiming he ousted them in retaliation after they reported him to federal authorities for alleged crimes he committed in assisting Paul.<\/p>\n<p>The allegations relating to Paul were a major part of the 20 articles of impeachment filed recently against Paxton, including bribery and abuse of public trust.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, Paxton broadly denied the claims.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFacts matter. As time goes on people will see the truth of what we\u2019re saying, that these people, some of them, had legitimate issues unrelated to me that ended up resulting in their termination,\u201d Paxton said at the time.<\/p>\n<p>After about a year of investigating the whistleblowers\u2019 claims, Paxton\u2019s office issued a report that refuted the former employees\u2019 claims.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, an outside law firm hired by Paxton\u2019s office to carry out a follow-up investigation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/independent-report-finds-ken-paxton-didnt-break-law-in-firing-former-officials_5305903.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found that<\/a> Paxton didn\u2019t break any laws or violate office policies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, will not testify at his Senate impeachment trial, according to his defense team. Paxton&#8217;s attorney, Tony Buzbee, stated that the impeachment is an unfounded assault on his client by political adversaries aiming to harm one of America&#8217;s leading figures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":1964257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1964256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1964256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1964257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1964256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1964256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1964256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}