{"id":2031322,"date":"2023-09-14T01:08:07","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T05:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-house-rests-averting-early-verdict-in-paxton-impeachment-to-end-day-7\/"},"modified":"2023-09-14T01:10:44","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T05:10:44","slug":"texas-house-rests-averting-early-verdict-in-paxton-impeachment-to-end-day-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-house-rests-averting-early-verdict-in-paxton-impeachment-to-end-day-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas House avoids early verdict in Paxton impeachment, ends day 7."},"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\">22<\/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%2Ftexas-house-rests-averting-early-verdict-in-paxton-impeachment-to-end-day-7%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=2031322&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 data-post-content=\"true\" class=\"post_content\" id=\"post_content\">\n<p>On the seventh day of Texas\u200d Attorney General Ken Paxton&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/schumer-calls-for-trump-to-be-immediately-removed-from-office-by-impeachment-or-25th-amendment\/\" title=\"Schumer Calls for Trump to be \u201cImmediately Removed From Office\u201d by Impeachment or 25th Amendment\">impeachment trial<\/a>, prosecutors\u200b rested their case.<\/p>\n<p>After what turned into a chaotic \u200dafternoon at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, prosecutors failed to successfully \u200bcall Laura Olson as a witness.<\/p>\n<p>They had sought her testimony in the morning. However, Ms. Olson, Mr. Paxton&#8217;s alleged mistress, was not yet eligible to provide testimony, according to the trial rules, which require witnesses to be notified at least 24 hours in advance.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"border-comp-divider mb-4 mr-4 w-full max-w-[500px] border px-5 py-4 text-[16px] leading-[20px] text-[#262626] md:float-left\" id=\"in_article_related_stories\">\n<div class=\"mb-3 font-sans text-[16px] font-semibold uppercase leading-[19px] text-[#2F2F2F]\">Related Stories<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/ag-ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-outside-lawyer-brandon-cammack-never-received-payment-5490164\">AG Ken Paxton Impeachment Trial: Outside Lawyer Brandon Cammack Never Received Payment<\/a>\n          <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">9\/13\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\">\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/ag-ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-outside-lawyer-brandon-cammack-never-received-payment-5490164\"><\/a>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/texas-ag-ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-could-wrap-up-by-weeks-end-5489567\">Texas AG Ken Paxton Impeachment Trial\u2063 Could Wrap Up by Week&#8217;s End<\/a>\n          <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">9\/11\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\">\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/texas-ag-ken-paxton-impeachment-trial-could-wrap-up-by-weeks-end-5489567\"><\/a>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is serving as the presiding officer over the historic trial in the Senate chamber, announced that the prosecution had only 5 hours and 17 minutes left to present their case. He said\u2062 the defense had almost twice as much time with nearly 10 hours remaining.<\/p>\n<p>Each side was given 24 hours \u200cto present \u2062their side and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/he-was-acquitted-of-rape-and-tried-to-sue-his-school-and-accuser-now-the-court-is-asking-about-qualified-immunity\/\" title=\"He Was Acquitted Of Rape And Tried To Sue His School And Accuser. Now The Court Is Asking About Qualified Immunity.\">cross-examine witnesses<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He then said that Ms. Olson would\u2063 be eligible to take the stand at 3:53 p.m. However, by late afternoon, the two sides reached a private agreement \u200cand Ms. Olson left\u200d the Capitol after being &#8220;deemed unavailable to \u2062testify,&#8221; Mr.\u2063 Patrick said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode post-related-videos\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Shortly after the announcement, Rusty Hardin, a lawyer for the\u2062 prosecution, said he was resting their side of the case. Defense \u200battorney Tony\u2062 Buzbee then moved to end the trial with an early verdict on the grounds of insufficient evidence, but later\u2063 withdrew the request without a vote shortly before the trial adjourned for the day.<\/p>\n<p>As the scene played out Wednesday evening, Paxton posted on social media that he was headed to \u2062Maine next week to\u2062 talk\u200c with former Fox News host \u2064Tucker Carlson about \u201cthe last two weeks in Texas politics.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    \u201cIt should be interesting!\u201d he said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.<\/p>\n<h2>Paxton&#8217;s &#8216;Body Man&#8217; Testifies<\/h2>\n<p>    Earlier in the day, while awaiting Ms. Olson&#8217;s testimony,\u2064 House impeachment managers shifted to calling lawyer Ray Chester of the Mitte Foundation, followed by Mr. \u2062Paxton&#8217;s former executive assistant Drew Wicker.\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<p>Mr. Paxton is facing 16 of 20 \u200darticles of impeachment on allegations of abuse of \u2062power and bribery. Four of the articles were held in abeyance.<\/p>\n<p>Thirty of 31 state \u2063senators\u201418 Republicans and 12 Democrats\u2014will decide whether the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-house-rests-averting-early-verdict-in-paxton-impeachment-to-end-day-7\/\" title=\"Texas House avoids early verdict in Paxton impeachment, ends day 7.\">suspended attorney general returns<\/a> to his duties or is removed from office. A two-thirds threshold, or 21 votes, is needed to remove the attorney general from office. Mr. Paxton&#8217;s wife, Sen. \u200bAngela Paxton, is required to attend the trial but is not \u2062allowed \u200dto vote.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Paxton has not been present since the\u200b first day of the trial on Sept. 5.<\/p>\n<p>In May, the\u200b GOP-led House impeached the Republican attorney general on allegations of wrongdoing in a vote of 123-21.<\/p>\n<p>For more than\u2062 a week, testimony has centered on allegations from eight so-called &#8220;whistleblowers&#8221; who accuse Mr. Paxton of abusing his office to help Austin \u2063real estate investor and donor Nate Paul in \u2063exchange \u200dfor\u2063 new kitchen countertops and cabinets, as well as Mr. Paul providing a job to Ms. Olson.<\/p>\n<p>In exchange, it is alleged that Mr. Paul \u201creceived favorable legal assistance from, or specialized access to, the attorney general\u2019s office,\u201d the impeachment\u200d documents charge.<\/p>\n<p>During cross-examination, Mr. Wicker testified that he did not believe his former boss received anything more than lunch from Mr. Paul, who is at the center of the accusations against the attorney general.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Buzbee asked Mr. Wicker about a conversation he had \u2063heard\u2062 while at the Paxtons&#8217; Austin home when\u2063 they were having renovations to repair damage caused by a storm.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Wicker heard Mr. Paxton tell Kevin Wood, the lead contractor for Mr. Paxton\u2019s home renovation, that Mrs. Paxton would like to add granite countertops in the kitchen. Mr. Paxton allegedly\u200c told Mr. Wood to\u200c &#8220;talk to Nate&#8221; about the $20,000 cost of the new granite \u200dcountertops.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t have any knowledge that Nate\u200b Paul ever did anything for General Paxton other than buy lunch?&#8221; Mr. Buzbee asked Mr. Wicker. &#8220;Isn&#8217;t\u200d that\u200d right?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s correct,&#8221;\u2062 Mr. Wicker responded.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Wicker went on to testify \u200cthat that conversation had made him uncomfortable, so \u2063he took his concerns to his direct report, Blake\u2062 Brickman, who suggested he speak directly with Mr. Paxton about the situation.<\/p>\n<p>He said he did\u2063 speak with Mr. Paxton about the situation, who told him his understanding was &#8220;wrong&#8221; and he thanked him for bringing the\u2062 matter to \u2064his attention.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Wicker, also known as Mr. Paxton&#8217;s &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/woman-who-accused-andrew-cuomo-of-sexual-harassment-finally-details-allegations\/\" title=\"Woman Who Accused Andrew Cuomo Of Sexual Harassment Finally Details Allegations\">body man<\/a>,&#8221;\u200b confirmed that he spent more time with\u2064 the attorney \u200dgeneral \u200cthan anyone, including Mrs. Paxton. His job required \u200chim to be with the attorney general the majority of the time, and he was responsible for his schedule.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They have accused him\u200c of bribery. \u200cAre you?&#8221; Mr.\u2063 Buzbee asked Mr. Wicker.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not,&#8221; Mr. \u2064Wicker responded.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s be clear: the guy that spent more time, and that&#8217;s you, Drew, with General Paxton than anyone else during the time frame we&#8217;re talking about is absolutely not accusing General Paxton of doing \u2063anything wrong at all. Are you?&#8221; Mr. Buzbee asked again.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not accusing anyone of anything,&#8221; Mr. Wicker stated. &#8220;No.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr.\u200b Buzbee a<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prosecutors concluded their case on the seventh day of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton&#8217;s impeachment trial. Despite their efforts to call Laura Olson as a witness, she was unable to testify due to ineligibility. The chaotic afternoon at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, ended without her providing testimony as Mr. Paxton&#8217;s alleged mistress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1556,"featured_media":2031323,"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-2031322","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\/2031322","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\/1556"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2031322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2031322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2031323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2031322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2031322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2031322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}