Paxton's former friends and advisors provided impeachment evidence against him

Some of impeached Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton's former advisors, friends, and colleagues provided investigators with damaging evidence against him ahead of his political trial next month in the Texas Senate.

Investigators appointed by Texas House Republicans collected more than 3,700 pages of evidence. Ahead of an impeachment trial that has split the state's Republican leadership, prosecutors published what they found.

The documents show Paxton, who has denied all wrongdoing, used private email accounts, fake Uber accounts, and burner phones to hide his actions between an Austin real-estate developer Nate Paul and Paxton's alleged mistress. Some of his former top staffers, friends, and colleagues told investigators what they knew.

Texas House prosecutors accuse Paxton of accepting a bribe: $120,000 disguised as home remodeling and a job for his alleged extra-marital girlfriend in exchange for help getting in the way of a federal investigation into Paul's real estate empire. Paxton's defense attorney Tony Buzbee argues the bribery allegation is far-fetched and under a "prior term" doctrine, once the voters re-elected Paxton all wrongdoing was forgiven.

"Two special prosecutors who were handed a blank check at taxpayers' expense to find Ken Paxton's bribe can't locate one - because it never happened," wrote Buzbee after the documents were due to the Texas Senate but before they became publicly available online.

In one internal memo published, Paxton's former number two man in the attorney general's office warned him the office was doing too much work for Paul.

“I believe that Paul is seeking to use the name and authority of this agency to manipulate our office into conducting a criminal investigation of federal prosecutors and possibly law enforcement agents without any supporting evidence, solely for his personal benefit," wrote Jeff Mateer, then-First Assistant Attorney General, in a memo obtained by investigators.

Mateer may testify in the Senate trial next month.

Earlier this year Paul was indicted on federal charges, accused of lying on financial documents to get $170 million in loans. The FBI raided Paul's businesses in 2019. Paul pleaded not guilty in court. Paxton's defense attorney and witnesses interviewed by House managers say the suspended attorney general is also under federal investigation.

"If you understand what was going on, this was outrageous conduct by an Attorney General that's supposed to be the chief law enforcement officer for the State of Texas, not the chief lawbreaking officer," Mark Penley, one of Paxton's former deputies told investigators in a March deposition.

Public comments from the prosecutors and defense are limited because of a sweeping gag order imposed by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, R - Texas, who will act as a judge over the Republican-dominated senate. Most of what the public knows comes from public record requests and documents posted online to the Senate's website ahead of the trial.

Paxton's wife Angela is a state senator but was banned from voting on his fate earlier this year by her colleagues.

“Attorney General Ken Paxton has neither sought nor accepted a bribe, and the House Managers’ slanderous accusation to the contrary is meritless, no matter how many times they repeat it," argued Buzbee Wednesday night.

In the past few years, eight of Paxton's highest-ranking advisors and department heads filed a whistleblower lawsuit and notified the FBI about what they believed was an abuse of power by Paxton. One key dispute revealed in the documents was Paxton hiring a special counsel they felt was unqualified to look into the law enforcement officers investigating Paul. Prosecutors also accuse Paxton of giving Paul the FBI evidence against him.

The new documents show subpoenaed Uber records House investigators claim to show Paxton using a fake name - "Dave P" - to hide meetings with Paul and a former senate staffer named by several people as Paxton's mistress. The documents show Paul moved the woman from San Antonio to Austin for a $65,000 job.

According to the documents, Paxton's former personal assistant Drew Wicker raised concerns about home renovations he believed Paul was paying for. Wicker told investigators he was once a close family friend with the Paxtons but distanced himself after he became worried the Paxton-Paul relationship was suspicious.

“We were spending an increasingly large share of our calendar time focused on Nate Paul," Wicker told investigators.

The young man also ran into Paxton and his alleged mistress on vacation and raised concerns with other people in the attorney general's office.

Paxton's attorneys asked Texas Republican Lt. Governor Patrick to dismiss the articles of impeachment against him, calling the upcoming trial a "kangaroo court." Patrick has consistently said he will preside over a fair and impartial process.

Friday, responding to the documents, Paxton's attorneys asked Patrick to sanction House managers saying the evidence "utterly fails to show that the Attorney General solicited or accepted a bribe in any fashion, or that he abused his office in any way whatsoever." The filing goes on to say that House managers "have engaged in a vindictive campaign to destroy the Attorney General's reputation."

You can read the document filed with the Senate Court of Impeachment:

Several conservative leaders have publicly supported Paxton like Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, former President Donald Trump, and Texas GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi.

Removal by the Texas Senate does not come with any criminal charges.

Paxton was reelected to a third term last November after surviving a primary runoff election. His supporters said the voters chose him despite several ongoing scandals. Paxton also faces state criminal accusations of securities fraud, an ongoing federal investigation, and an effort by the state bar to revoke his law license.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.