Texas Ranger testifies what he saw between Ken Paxton, donor — and he did not like it| Opinion
.JPG "Senators enter the Texas Senate for Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial at the Capitol in Austin on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023.")
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Our Editorial Board has closely followed the saga of Attorney General Ken Paxton. Read our coverage to catch up on the issues in his impeachment, and check out our analysis as the trial unfolds.
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If you wanted to know what a real-life Texas Ranger who’s carried out “thousands” of investigations looks like, look no further than David Maxwell, the man who presented much of Friday’s testimony in the Ken Paxton impeachment trial.
By reputation and career accolades alone, Maxwell carries the most weight of the witnesses. Maxwell is the former law enforcement director in the attorney general’s office He told the court what he thought about the relationship between Paxton, the suspended AG, and donor Nate Paul — and it wasn’t good.
Maxwell is somewhat of a living legend in Texas, boasting a 40-year career with the Texas Department of Public Safety before joining the attorney general’s office. Maxwell is among the group of former employees who sued Paxton, alleging that he was fired after he and others blew the whistle on possible bribery to the FBI.
With a deep, gravelly voice and a straightforward manner, Maxwell repeatedly demonstrated that he believed Paxton had gotten tangled up in a friendship with an unethical person, the real estate investor Paul, and needed to extricate himself.
“My opinion was that Nate Paul was a criminal and that we should not be associated with Nate Paul,” Maxwell said at one point in the Senate trial.
Maxwell testified that he even told Paxton what he thought of Paul: “I told him that Nate Paul was a criminal, he was running a Ponzi scheme that would rival Billie Sol Estes,” Maxwell said. He added that If Paxton didn’t distance himself, “he was gonna get himself indicted.” (Sol Estes was a Texas businessman convicted of a complex business fraud scheme involving agriculture and prompting investigations from the FBI via President John F. Kennedy.)
The Texas Ranger’s testimony added more heft to the 16 articles of impeachment under consideration, including charges of bribery and corruption. He wraps up a strong week of testimony by prosecution witnesses.
We’ve yet to hear the defense’s full arguments and evidence. Paxton’s attorneys will likely attempt to discredit the witnesses’ observations about Paxton and Paul and their alleged crimes.
This story was originally published September 9, 2023 at 5:32 AM.
