Ken Paxton will not testify at impeachment trial, defense attorney says

[LetMyPeopleVote]

The fact that Paxton will not testify is interesting. Paxton may be forced to testify in that this is not a criminal trial and this impeachment trial will not involve the securities claims that will be tried later.

Buzbee is a real asshole and a fight between Rusty Hardin and Dick DeGuerin will be fun to watch

Link to tweet

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/04/texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-impeachment/

The lead attorney for suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton said his client will not testify in his upcoming impeachment trial in the Texas Senate.

Paxton’s defense lawyer, Tony Buzbee, made the announcement in a late Monday night statement on the eve of the July Fourth holiday. The Senate could still try to force Paxton to testify, but the statement makes clear Paxton would fight such efforts.

“We will not bow to their evil, illegal, and unprecedented weaponization of state power in the Senate chamber,” Buzbee said of the House. A spokesperson for the chamber did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the defense team’s statement......

Whether Paxton would testify in the trial has long been a source of speculation given his ongoing legal battles — and the potential he could provide information to the Senate that complicates those cases. He has been indicted on securities fraud charges since 2015, and the FBI began investigating the claims by whistleblowers in his office after they came forward in 2020.....

“After the House impeachment vote, Paxton claimed he wants a ‘full accounting of the truth,’” Brickman said in a statement at the time. “This begs the question: Will Ken Paxton agree to testify on his own behalf? Or will Ken Paxton continue to be a coward and hide behind his lawyers and their bogus ‘process’ arguments?”

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Here is Buzbee's statement

Link to tweet

[TexasTowelie]

2. His refusal to testify in his own defense

will just make the conviction in the trial that much easier for the senators. I'm certain that there are enough GOP senators still around that remember that the whole securities fraud mess involved a GOP senator who was ripped off by Paxton. Buzbee should know that he is playing to a tough crowd of jurors.