AUSTIN, Texas — Senators have heard hours of testimony and are getting closer to the stage of suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment trial where they will determine his political fate.
Tuesday's testimony ended with more whistleblower testimony with a former deputy attorney general saying he was concerned about how Ken Paxton was allegedly using the Office of Attorney General to help friend and political donor Nate Paul.
"It was lawyer ethics 101, so that was the first thing that came to my mind, we are weaponizing the criminal process to aid a civil litigant, and that is a big no-no," said former deputy attorney general Darren McCarty.
McCarty was the 12th witness in the trial. Others included attorney Brandon Cammack, former U.S. Attorney Joe Brown and Amplify Credit Union President/CEO Kendall Garrison.
Paxton's team tried to push back on the assertion by prosecutors that the attorney general was pushing for a certain result in Nate Paul's case, rather that he shared Paul's concerns about potential illegal activity by federal agents.
The impeachment trial went past 7 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday could be another long day.
Both sides are down to just a few hours left in their allotted time for testimony and evidence. Deliberations could start as early as Thursday.
MORE PAXTON COVERAGE:
- At impeachment, lawyer recounts Texas AG Ken Paxton supervising his investigation into FBI and judge
- Sen. John Cornyn calls allegations about fellow Republican Ken Paxton 'deeply disturbing'
- With Angela Paxton listening, former chief of staff testifies that Ken Paxton admitted his affair with Laura Olson
- Dan Patrick said state senators could begin deliberating in Ken Paxton's impeachment trial later this week