Ken Paxton’s legal team says the Texas House’s impeachment of the Texas Attorney General amounts to little more than a “drive-by shooting on a holiday weekend to politically assassinate one of the leading conservative voices, not only in Texas, but also in the United States.”
At a packed press conference in the Republican Party of Texas’ headquarters in Austin on Wednesday, high-profile Houston attorneys Tony Buzbee and Dan Cogdell previewed the upcoming Senate trial against Paxton, who was impeached last month by the Texas House.
“The impeachment articles that have been laid out by the House are baloney. Just so we’re clear, the allegations are untrue. They are false,” Buzbee asserted.
Buzbee blasted the House’s rushed impeachment process.
“I’m a native Texan. My family’s been in this state for generations. And I’m very offended by the shameful and despicable conduct of our House of Representatives,” said Buzbee. “I’ve been on this case less than 72 hours. For me. It took less than 72 hours for the House to pass those articles of impeachment… 20 articles of impeachment in less than 72 hours. Ken Paxton will never never be convicted by the Senate. Not on this evidence, not with this record. And not when the fact is the allegations are completely untrue.”
Like Buzbee, Cogdell also did not mince words when it came to criticizing the House’s impeachment.
“I don’t want to say it was a sham and a mockery of a proceeding before the House. But it was a sham and a mockery of a proceeding before the House,” said Cogdell.
Both attorneys highlighted the fact that Paxton was unable to defend himself during the House investigation and the subsequent impeachment hearing, instead relying on “hearsay upon hearsay upon hearsay.”
“I would suggest to you this was a long term plan to remove one of the major conservative voices in Texas,” said Buzbee. “What they did was convene a hurried secretive kangaroo court, more like something you would see in a third world country. Not something you would expect from a legislative body, not something that we can all be proud of, not something that we should respect.”
“To say this case is not about politics has the credibility, the believability, and the sincerity of the fellow that’s trying to convince his wife that he goes to the strip joint for the food,” said Cogdell.
Leading the prosecution against Paxton are two other prominent Houston attorneys, Dick DeGuerin and Rusty Hardin.
In the wake of Paxton’s impeachment, six members of the Texas Attorney General’s Office have taken a leave of absence to also join the team defending Paxton in his upcoming trial, which must be held before August 28.
The Senate trial will require a two-thirds majority vote for conviction in order to remove Paxton from office.
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