Bay Area Houston

Yes.

What kind of idiot thinks a $3 Million donation to a judge prior to an impeachment trial is proper? Patrick was acting (seriously) as the judge in the Attorney General Ken Paxton impeachment trial. He isn’t a judge. He isn’t an attorney. He has no law experience. He had to depend on his legal staff to rule on motions, objections, and other legal matters during the trial. But, nevertheless, he was the judge in the trial.

Just prior to the trial he received a $3 Million donation from an extreme right wing PAC, Defend Texas Liberty. This is the same group featured on a CNN investigation. It is funded by two Texas billionaires. Their goal is to transform Texas into a christian nationalist state by funding extreme white wing candidates against republican elected officials. As an example they funded the campaign for State Representative Bryan Slaton and won. (Slaton was eventually the 1st representative in 100 years to be removed from office for providing alcohol to an under aged staffer, porking her, and then trying to cover it up.) They have financed State Representative Tony Tinderholt. (He has been married 5 times!) You get the idea. They are just massive christian hypocrites.

So prior to the trial they just bribed the shit out of Patrick and it worked. After the cowards of the Senate refused to remove Paxton, Patrick took to the microphone. He could have thanked the Senators, said another fucking prayer, then adjourn. Instead he berated the House investigators, demanded an investigation of the investigators, and acted like the giant dick he is. All for $3 Million.

The billionaires are now setting their sights on the House Members who voted to impeach Paxton. They have unlimited money and they are going to spend it. It’s happening now.

As I have said. The new GOP. The Gang Of Pussies.

They aren’t laughing with you. They are laughing at you. This is who they are. The Republican Senators couldn’t find an ounce of intelligence, or morals, or a pair of balls to do the right thing, the obvious thing. Instead they let the biggest crook in the history of the Texas Attorney Generals office off the hook. They couldn’t hold him to the highest standard the office demands. They couldn’t hold him to the highest standard the Bible demands. They couldn’t hold him accountable because they were afraid of being kicked in the balls by those who control them, their donors.

They have been officially neutered. Paxton will return to office to fire some more people and continue screwing his mistress. Tony Buzbee will run for Houston City Council. Lt Governor Dan Patrick will take the $3 Million he received from a Paxton PAC, Defend Texas Liberty, and start an investigation of those in the house who brought the charges to the Senate.

As I said in the past, they were never going to have the balls, the moral fortitude to do the right thing. Today the Republican Party leaders are just a bunch of low life, lying, cheating, stealing, adulterer sympathizer, excuse making, rotten bunch of fucking bastards. They will let Paxton off.

What an incredibly fucked up, spineless, immoral, stupid, ignorant, lawless, party of pussies.

I have to agree. They have nothing. Almost. The Texas Tribune had a very short recap here. (even they were bored)

The most drama moment in the trial was Tony Buzbee saying the defense rests. The rest was boring and I’m not even sure what the defense was trying to do beside bore the shit out of the jurors.

The prosecution needs to prove only 1 of 20 articles of impeachment for Paxton to be removed from office. From what I watched, and I watched much of the trial, the issue of hiring of Brandon Cammack to conduct that bogus investigation is the one that is easy to understand and was pretty clear. He should go down for that alone. Luckily he has a bunch of Senators who are afraid of their shadow and will let him off.

The defense rested their defense of Paxton with time to spare to call more witnesses. I was wondering who they were going to find to actually come to the defense of Paxton. They found a couple that did their best to bore the crap out of the jury. They did their job.

Closing arguments begin today.

It wasn’t the best day for the prosecution. The Texas Tribune has a great recap.

We were introduced to House lawyer Erin Epley yesterday. She was awesome. Fast, flowing and she took no shit from Oompa Loompa Tony Buzbee. The House should just let her close out the prosecution’s case because Rusty Hardin continues to be just plain awful.

The day focused on Paxton’s personal assistant, Drew Wicker, who was “like a son” to Paxton’s wife. He threw his dad under the bus but didn’t seem to enjoy it. He struggled to provide evidence that Nate Paul paid for Paxton’s home remodeling. Personally I thought this article of impeachment was going to be hard to prove, giving the Senators an out for voting to let him off by focusing on just one of the 20 articles of impeachment. That’s how they will justify their vote to the media and constituents. Focus only on one article of impeachment.

We also heard from his scheduler. He was clearly pissed. He filed suit against Paxton after being fired and refused to participate in a settlement. He didn’t want money. He wanted a public apology from Paxton and an acknowledgment that those who went to the FBI were not “rogue” attorneys. This was yet another strong, right wing, republican witness against Paxton.

Paxton’s mistress was waiting in the capitol to testify but was released after she said she would be taking the fifth. Rusty Hardin announced that the House had rest its case. He later realized he made a mistake.

Senators will probably start deliberations late Friday. They only need to rule in favor of 1 out of 20 articles to remove Paxton from office.

Used and abused. The Texas Tribune has an excellent recap here.

Paxton should be removed from office just for what he did to this young attorney who testified yesterday. One of the impeachment charges is that Paxton used his office to help a private citizen, Nate Paul. Brandon Cammack, an attorney from Houston, was hired by Paxton, even after his entire staff refused to do so, to investigate an issue on behalf of Paul. Cammack did the best he could with the incredible opportunity provided by Paxton. In the end Paxton and his new second in command, Brent Webster, took Cammack away from the Attorney Generals office, to a Starbucks, and fired him. They also told him he would have to “eat it” when he asked about being paid $14,000 for his time he spent on the investigation. Then they left him there to find his own way back to his car at the AGs office.

What an incredible dick. I actually felt sorry for the guy. Seriously who the fuck does that? Paxton had interviewed another attorney, former U.S. Attorney Joe Brown who had incredible credentials and experience. Instead Paxton personally hired Cammack, 5 years out of law school, who had never prosecuted a criminal case. Why? Because Paxton could control Cammack. Brown would have probably stopped any investigation Paxton sent him on and contacted the FBI. Cammack’s inexperience pushed him to issue 29 subpoenas even though he had no “badge” or paperwork giving him the authority and title of “Special Prosecutor”.

One of the attorneys who received a subpoena called the staff of Paxton and asked about Cammack. The staff had no idea that Cammack had been hired. They immediately had all the subpoenas squashed and sent a cease and desist order to Cammack. Cammack refused to move forward as he should have.

Paxton then invited him to have a cup of coffee.

Paxton was warned about Nate Paul over and over again by multiple people. Today the Director of Law Enforcement David Maxwell a 30 year veteran of the Texas Rangers testified. It’s just getting worse for Paxton.

The Texas Tribune has a great recap. Here are my snarky comments.

Once again, the witnesses who testified today are right wing, “conservative”, republicans and they are rock solid. David Maxwell, a veteran of law enforcement, warned Paxton to stay away from Nate Paul. He refused to use the office of the Attorney General to investigate a non profit on behalf of Nate Paul. He testified that Paxton threatened to fire him if he didn’t. He never initiated the investigation and he was eventually fired.

Abbott’s defense once again was grasping at straws trying to nitpick his testimony. It didn’t work or it shouldn’t work. They tried to ask “Yes or No” questions that Maxwell couldn’t answer it was like this:
Defense: Is it dark outside, yes or no.
Maxwell: I can’t see outside.
Defense: OBJECTION! Yes or No!

The witnesses so far are pretty solid. Each have told the same sequence of events. Paxton was warned, by multiple people not to associate with Nate Paul, yet he did it anyway. The witnesses so far are the whistleblowers who eventually went to the FBI and reported Paxton. They were all fired or demoted and eventually filed suit against Paxton.

That suit settled for over $3 Million but the Texas House refused to pay it. More coming Monday.

This is boring me to tears.

The Texas Tribune has a great recap. Here are my snarky comments.

Once again the witnesses for the State were solid, right wing, “conservatives” and the Buzbee Bunch defending Paxton was grasping for straws on minute details hoping to give republican Senators a way to justify saying “I have my doubts”. His attorneys hammered the witnesses, unsuccessfully, on the letterhead that was used to fire an attorney that Paxton hired illegally to intervene in a suit his staff had warned Paxton not to get involved in.

They hammered one of the witnesses for not taking aside the “gentle, kind” Paxton prior to going to the FBI and telling him they were going to the FBI. Those who went to the FBI were later fired, or demoted. They left the office, sued Paxton, and was to receive a $3 Million settlement.

Most of the time I was left with the question “What is your point?”. The witnesses were solid. They gave Paxton multiple opportunities to remove himself from Nat Pauls dealings and lawsuits. He refused so they went to the FBI. Witnesses were hammered, unsuccessfully, about them going to the FBI without evidence of a crime yet they had been for days detailing their concerns. The FBI was to validate the complaint, determine if it has merit, and then investigate. The FBI will find the evidence, not the staff.

The defense is just trying to give republican senators an opportunity to let Paxton off the hook. Any little reason will do. Anything no matter how minute it is.