Inside the Impeachment: Paxton on Trial — Day 3 (with Adam Loewy)

Read more about the impeachment: https://thetexan.news/paxton_impeachment/

Today, attorneys in the impeachment trial focused on finishing testimony from Ryan Bangert, one of the former deputy attorneys general who raised criminal allegations against Attorney General Ken Paxton. Ryan Vassar, another former employee of the attorney general’s office, was called to testify next.

Some major highlights of the day included:

• Bangert discussed a lunch he had with Paxton and Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, saying that he had “ethical concerns” about the meeting. Bangert said that during the lunch, Paul detailed his “theory of grievances against the Mitte Foundation” — a charitable organization in litigation against Paul’s business.
• Bangert claimed that it was a “professional death warrant” to bring the allegations against Paxton to the FBI and asserted that he was “constructively discharged” from his position, having his responsibilities stripped from him in the weeks that followed the criminal complaint.
• During the cross-examination, defense attorney Anthony Osso homed in on the allegations made against Paxton about the so-called “midnight opinion” — an informal opinion issued by the office that the whistleblowers say allegedly benefited Nate Paul.
• The prosecution then called Ryan Vassar, another former employee of the attorney general’s office, to the stand. Unlike the first two witnesses, Vassar was fired and joined the lawsuit under the Texas Whistleblowers Act.
• Vassar became visibly emotional when questioned by the prosecution regarding his reaction to being referred to as a “rogue employee” by Paxton.