Who is Nate Paul, the real estate developer at the center of Ken Paxton’s impeachment?
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Senate trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton
Ken Paxton’s trial begins Tuesday in the Texas Senate. The senators will weight the evidence against the AG in the articles of impeachment and vote whether to convict Paxton and remove him from office.
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Charges, players, politics: What to know about Texas AG Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial
Who is Ken Paxton, the impeached Texas attorney general facing a trial in Senate?
Who is Nate Paul, the real estate developer at the center of Ken Paxton’s impeachment?
Who is Texas AG Ken Paxton’s mistress and how does she factor in the impeachment?
One name you can expect to come up time and time again in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial: Nate Paul.
The Austin real estate developer is perhaps the most central figure to the allegations pending before Paxton in the articles of impeachment. All but four tie back to his relationship with Paul in some form or fashion.
Here’s what to know.
Meet Nate Paul
Paul is the founder of World Class Holdings. Forbes reported he had an net worth of $800 million in 2017. He was included in their “30 under 30: Finance” list in 2016.
He’s the son of Indian immigrants and was raised in Victoria, according to The Texas Tribune. At 15 he moved to Austin to attend a Catholic prep school, and he went to college at the University of Texas at Austin, according to Forbes.
World Class Holdings was raided in 2019 and in the time since the company has experienced lawsuits, bankruptcies and foreclosures, according to The Austin Business Journal.
The man at the center of impeachment allegations
Paxton allegedly used his office to benefit Paul — claims that prompted an FBI investigation into Paxton and a retaliation lawsuit by the attorney general’s former employees who reported him to the federal agency.
According to the articles, Paxton had employees intervene in a lawsuit by the Roy F. & JoAnn Cole Mitte Foundation against several corporate entities Paul controlled. He also hired outside counsel to aid Paul in legal matters and allegedly gave him access to information that wasn’t public.
The articles additionally say Paxton had staff draft an attorney general opinion to help Paul avoid foreclosure sales on his properties and business. Paxton tried to conceal his actions by having Sen. Bryan Hughes request the opinion, the articles say.
Paul, meanwhile, is accused of helping Paxton facilitate an affair, including by giving Paxton’s mistress a job, and of paying for Paxton’s home renovations.
Paul donated $25,000 to Paxton in 2018.
Paul’s recent indictment
Paul was indicted in for false statements to influence the actions of financial institutions on loan applications.
He’s accused by federal prosecutors of breaking a federal law that “prohibits knowingly making a false statement or report for the purpose of influencing the action of a financial institution on an application for a loan,” according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The events in question happened between March 2017 and April 2018, the news release says.
Paul has pleaded not guilty.
