Lead attorney for Texas AG Ken Paxton calls impeachment 'baloney' and a 'scam'
AUSTIN, Texas - Tony Buzbee held his first press conference on June 7 following the announcement that he will be defending Ken Paxton in his Senate impeachment trial.
Buzbee, a prominent Houston attorney, will represent Attorney General Ken Paxton during his impeachment trial.
"The impeachment articles that have been laid out by the house are baloney," said Buzbee in the press conference.
Twenty articles of impeachment filed in late May by a House committee cited alleged bribery and abuse of public trust, among other charges.
"To say this case is not about politics, has the credibility, the believability and the sincerity of the fellow that's trying to convince his wife that he goes to the strip joint for the food," said Dan Cogdell, another attorney on Paxton’s defense team.
Cogdell is also representing Paxton in the 2015 securities fraud indictment, in which Paxton has yet to stand trial.
Last week, high-profile attorneys Dick DeGuerin and Rusty Hardin were announced as prosecutors in the case. They claimed that the evidence against Paxton is ‘10 times worse’ than what’s been made public.
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Only two other elected Texas officials have ever been impeached. Paxton's lawyers say in Paxton's case, neither precedent nor due process was followed.
"It was rushed in 72 hours with a four-hour hearing…no witnesses, testimony or documents: hearsay," said Buzbee. "No credible prosecutor would ever try to get even a grand jury indictment based on this kind of foolishness."
The Senate trial is expected to begin by Aug. 28, though Buzbee hinted at possibly trying to push that back.
"I would suggest if we're going to have a real trial, if we're really going to have a trial, it's going to take a lot longer than that," he said.
If at least two-thirds of the Senate vote in favor of impeachment, Paxton would be officially removed from his office.
Paxton was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives on May 27 after hours of debate and discussion surrounded 20 Articles of Impeachment recommended by a House investigating committee.