(NewsNation) — Texas House impeachment managers unveiled new allegations against the Lone Star State’s attorney general, Ken Paxton.
The new impeachment filing containing around 4,000 pages of documents comes ahead of Paxton’s Senate impeachment trial which is set to start Sept. 5 in the Texas Capitol.
According to House Resolution 2377, impeachment charges against Paxton include: disregard of official duty, misapplication of public resources, constitutional bribery, obstruction of justice, false statement in official records, conspiracy and attempted conspiracy, misappropriation of public resources, dereliction of duty, unfitness for office and abuse of public trust.
Paxton, who was suspended from office since being impeached by the Texas House in May, has denied wrongdoing.
The documents and the response to Paxton’s motion to dismiss by House impeachment managers provide more detailed information into allegations that Paxton used his power to help Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, saying he went to “great lengths to hide the relationship.”
‘You’re going to get yourself in trouble’
According to the documents, Paxton was urged not to trust Paul, who is now charged with eight federal counts of making false statements to mortgage lenders and other financial institutions.
David Maxwell, who worked as the criminal law enforcement director for the Office of the Attorney General from 2015 to 2020, told House investigators what Paxton was doing in regard to Paul “was not legal and was not right.”
“I said, ‘Ken, you’re going to get yourself in trouble, and I wish you’d listen to me. (…) You could be charged with bribery,” Maxwell said.
‘Scheme’ to enlist senior staff
House managers have accused Paxton of trying to solicit the help of senior staff at the Office of the Attorney General to help Paul.
In 2019, Paxton allegedly asked top criminal law deputy Mark Penley to join a call with Paul about “issues with the FBI.”
Penley said he kept wondering: “Why is the Attorney General having me listen to this? Where is the State interest in this? This is not something our office should be involved in.”
“Dave P.”
House managers say Paul made an Uber account for Paxton under the alias “Dave P.” which was accessible for both men to use. Uber records reportedly show the account for “Dave P.” matches “the identifiers” for Paxton. He allegedly used the ride-share app to see Paul and a woman he is accused of having an affair with.
According to the House managers, Paxton used the account to go to the Pearl Lantana Apartments where his mistress resided.
“Uber records reflect drivers picked up Paxton under the alias of ‘Dave P.’ a block from his home and ferried him to his lover’s or Paul’s properties more than a dozen times from August 6, 2020, until October 2, 2020,” House managers wrote.
Mistress moves
House impeachment managers say the apartment lease for Paxton’s mistress shows Paul hired her in June 2020 to work for his company, which allowed her to be more accessible to Paxton.
She previously resided in San Antonio.
Renovations to Paxton’s home
In 2020, House managers say one of Paxton’s assistants observed several times when Paxton spoke with a contractor about renovation costs to Paxton’s home.
The assistant claims the contractor replied he would “check with Nate” about costs and that there were emails of Paxton’s newly-finished floors sent to Paul.
Wire transfer
The documents from House managers also detailed a payment from Paxton’s blind trust to a friend of Paul.
Hours after some of Paxton’s top deputies met with the FBI to report the attorney general, Austin’s NPR station reports that Paxton wired $121,617 to Cupertino Builders, a company reportedly affiliated with Paul.
The outlet says House managers believe Paxton made the payment to try to hide that Paul gave Paxton free home renovations.
‘Fact issue exists’ about what voters knew
Despite the scandal, Paxton was reelected to a third term in November. House impeachment managers have accused Paxton of concealing “the truth from the public.”
“Paxton claims the public knew about all his misconduct and, by re-electing him in 2022, must have forgiven him for his offenses. Substantial evidence shows otherwise,” they wrote.
Earlier this month, Paxton’s legal team argued in filings to the Senate that the impeachment case was groundless since lawmakers have “no evidence that Attorney General Kenneth Paxton committed any wrongdoing or illegal acts and have no evidence to support any of the pending Articles of Impeachment.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.