Inside the Impeachment: Paxton on Trial — Day 4 (with Jonathan Richie)

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

Today, attorneys in the impeachment trial wrapped up testimony from Ryan Vassar, a former employee of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) who, unlike previous staff who testified, was fired from the office and joined the lawsuit under the Texas Whistleblowers Act. 

The prosecution then called David Maxwell to the stand, a former Texas Ranger who served as the director of criminal law enforcement under Ken Paxton. 

Some big parts of the day included:

• Rusty Hardin, attorney for the prosecution, looked to clarify statements Vassar made the day before about not bringing any evidence to the FBI when he reported Paxton with the other employees. Vassar said he meant that he did not bring documents, but that he did bring his “experiences.” 
• Texts from Vassar that joked with another whistleblower that the OAG “might need some activities to keep the kids entertained” after they left the agency were read in front of the jury of senators by the defense. 
• Vassar disagreed with the defense attorneys who alleged he was “trying to shape the media narrative.”
• Vassar said it wouldn’t be true to assert that he altered the letterhead on an OAG document to exclude Paxton’s name.
• Maxwell was up next, and testified that he thought Paxton “was going to get himself indicted” if he did not distance himself from Paul. He claimed “Nate Paul was a criminal, and we shouldn’t be associating with Nate Paul.” 
• The former Texas Ranger said that Paul became “very angry” when Maxwell did not act on his complaints, and argued he would have been guilty of federal crimes of obstruction of justice and interfering with an investigation if he did investigate.
• Just after 4:30 p.m., the Senate adjourned until Monday at 9:00 a.m.