Left: Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks during a news conference at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. Patrick will oversee the Senate trial on whether to remove impeached Texas Attorney General Paxton from office (AP Photo/Eric Gay). Right: Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton makes a statement at his office in Austin, Texas, Friday, May 26, 2023 (AP Photo/Eric Gay).
The face-off between top Texas government officials continues to escalate, as the Lone Star State’s second-in-command tells those involved in the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton to keep quiet ahead of his impeachment trial.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick ordered everyone involved in Paxton’s high-profile trial to stop making inflammatory statements in public. In a gag order issued Monday, Patrick said that both members of the state legislature, as well as Paxton’s attorney, have made statements that could risk prejudicing those who will ultimately vote to acquit or convict.
“[O]ut-of-court statements relating to the matters of this impeachment proceeding pose a serious and imminent threat to Warren Kenneth Paxton, Jr.’s, right to a fair trial of impeachment, and the ability of the members of the court to remain fair and impartial, and to the fair administration of justice,” Patrick’s gag order says.
The command itself is extensive:
Any member of the court; member of the House of Representatives; party to the trial of impeachment; witnesses in the trial of impeachment; or attorney, employee, or agent of any of these individuals shall not furnish any statement or information, or make or authorize the making of an extrajudicial statement that a reasonable person would expect to be disseminated by means of public communication, if the person making the statement knows or reasonably should know that it will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing the trial of impeachment, pose a serious threat to the constitutional guarantees to a fair trial, or impair the court’s ability to maintain a fair and impartial court.
Patrick said that comments about the “reputation or credibility” of anyone involved in the trial, statements of “opinion as to whether the articles of impeachment should be dismissed or sustained,” and public disclosures of information that someone “knows or reasonably should know is likely to be inadmissible as evidence at trial” are among the types of things anyone involved in the trial cannot say in public.
As Patrick, a Republican, noted in his gag order, the matter has drawn no small amount of publicity, which in turn has apparently prompted people on both sides of the trial to speak out.
“[S]ome specific public actions by individuals involved in the impeachment trial are particularly egregious,” the order also says. As examples, Patrick cited statements from lawmakers supporting Paxton’s impeachment, a potential witness, and Paxton’s defense attorney.
“[O]ne of the House Board of Managers authored an opinion article published in major newspapers that used inflammatory and prejudicial language like ‘harrowing findings of corruption,’ ‘shocking pattern of abuse and criminality,’ and ‘one overwhelming conclusion,”” the order says. While it doesn’t specify the author of the op-ed, it appears to have been written by state Rep. Andrew Murr, a Republican whose district covers several counties west of Austin and San Antonio.
Patrick also noted that at a press conference, attorneys for the House impeachment managers “used inflammatory language including ‘crook’ and ‘the allegations will blow your mind,’” while a potential witness for the impeachment managers issued a press statement calling Paxton a “coward.”
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Paxton’s attorney Tony Buzbee is also part of the problem, Patrick said in the gag order, although he did not identify Buzbee by name.
“[A]n attorney for [Paxton] used inflammatory and prejudicial language by publicly describing the impeachment as a ‘sham engineered by someone with a personal vendetta,’” Patrick said in the order. “The attorney also referred to House actions as an ‘evil illegal, and unprecedented weaponization of state power’ and called the articles of impeachment ‘bologna.’”
The publicity surrounding these statements, Patrick says, “has been so pervasive, prejudicial, and inflammatory that there is a substantial likelihood that members’ initial opinions may not be set aside.” He noted that “extrajudicial statements” such as these “could impact the member’s ability to render a fair and impartial verdict.”
A whopping 20 articles of impeachment were filed against Paxton, also a Republican, in May after years of alleged wrongdoing, including taking bribes, obstructing justice in a criminal case pending against him, issuing improper grand jury subpoenas, and violating state whistleblower laws by firing employees who reported his misconduct. He has been suspended pending trial.
He is also accused of colluding with real estate investor — and wealthy Paxton donor — Nate Paul, having him employ a woman with whom Paxton had an extramarital affair in exchange for Paxton allegedly improperly providing Paul with an FBI file related to an investigation of him.
Paul, who also allegedly paid thousands for renovations to the attorney general’s home, was indicted in June for federal financial crimes.
The Texas senate set the start of Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial for Sept. 5. If convicted, he could be removed from office and barred from holding future office in the state.
You can read Patrick’s gag order here.
Elura Nanos contributed to this report.
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