WATCH: Wednesday coverage of Ken Paxton Impeachment Trial

The House managers have made a motion to change the trial rules so that if senators convict suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton on a single article of impeachment, he would not only be permanently removed from his post but prevented from running for state-level offices in the future.

The current rules, which senatorsapproved in June, state that conviction on an article would merely remove Paxton from office. Senators would vote separately to decide whether Paxton should be barred from future office.

The earliest the Senate can consider the motion, which requires 24-hour notice, is around 11:30 a.m. Thursday. Based on the time left for each side to argue its case, senators could begin deliberation as soon as Thursday evening.

— Zach Despart

Ken Paxton’s former executive aide, Drew Wicker, testified Wednesday during day seven of the suspended attorney general’s impeachment trial that throughout 2020 he grew increasingly uneasy with Paxton’s behavior and close relationship with Nate Paul, an Austin real estate investor and political donor.

Wicker’s position meant he had a close relationship with both Paxton and his wife, Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney. He described Ken Paxton as a friend and said Angela Paxton was “nothing but loving and caring.” But the loyal aide said he became increasingly concerned with Ken Paxton’s relationship with Paul, which included frequent lunches and meetings, including some that were not on the attorney general’s official schedule or include his security detail.

He testified that he made several deliveries to Paul’s office, including in one instance a manila envelope. Wicker said he didn't know what the contents of the envelope were.

During the summer of 2020, Wicker was staying with his family at the Omni Barton Creek Hotel when he and his father ran into Ken Paxton and a woman coming out of the elevator. Wicker testified that he heard them having a “lively” conversation through the elevator doors. When they opened, the woman quickly exited while Paxton, wearing gym shorts, shook hands with Wicker and his father and said he was headed to the gym.

Wicker identified the woman as Laura Olson. Olson had been previously named during the trial as the woman with whom the attorney general was having an extramarital affair.

The elevator encounter “did spur some questions,” Wicker said.

Throughout 2020, Wicker said, Ken Paxton asked him to meet with an insurance adjuster regarding water damage to the bedroom of Paxton’s Austin home. He recalled one conversation between Paxton and contractor Kevin Wood about the cost of additional work on cabinets and countertops in the kitchen. Wood told Paxton the changes would cost $20,000 and said he needed to “check with Nate,” Wicker testified.

“I walked away with the impression that Nate Paul was involved in the renovations of General Paxton’s home,” Wicker said. When he confronted Paxton about his concerns, Paxton told him that was not the case. But Wicker said that did not allay his concerns.

Wicker also testified that Paxton had four cell phones, including two “extra phones.” On a few occasions, Paxton asked to use Wicker’s phone. Wicker said he did not know who Paxton called because every time Paxton returned the phone the call log was “wiped.”

In fall 2020, Wicker said Paxton offered him a promotion to expand his duties to include more policy-related work. It was around that time that the FBI contacted Wicker amid a report from senior staff alleging that Paxton had misused his office to benefit Paul.

Wicker said he turned down the promotion to protect Paxton — and himself.

“I didn’t want General Paxton to have the appearance to offer me anything in light of the FBI reaching out,” he testified, adding that he also wanted to avoid the appearance of receiving a benefit.

Wicker said he also rejected Paxton’s first assistant Brent Webster’s offer to use the office of attorney general’s lawyers to represent him with the FBI. Wicker said he preferred to hire his own counsel.

— Kate McGee

Laura Olson, the woman with whom suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton allegedly had an affair, is expected to take the witness stand Wednesday after 3 p.m. The prosecution attempted to call Olson as their first witness on Wednesday, but Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said she was not eligible to testify yet because she had not been notified a full 24 hours in advance, as required by trial rules.

Paxton is married to Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, who must be present for the trial but is not allowed to vote.

Olson’s relationship with Paxton has been a central focus of the House’s impeachment case against the attorney general. House impeachment managers allege Paxton misused his office to help his friend and donor Nate Paul investigate his business rivals. In exchange, managers allege, Paul gave Olson a job in Austin so he could be closer to her, among other favors. On Monday, the former chief of staff for the attorney general’s office also testifiedthat she warned Paxton that the affair could open him up to blackmail.

The prosecution, however, is running out of time. At the beginning of the day, Patrick announced the prosecution has five hours and 17 minutes left, while the defense has almost 10 hours left. Both sides were given a total of 24 hours to present evidence and cross-examine.

In lieu of Olson, the prosecution’s first witness was Ray Chester, the attorney for the Mitte Foundation. He testified about feeling pressure from the attorney general’s office to settle the group’s lawsuit with Paul on terms that were generous to the investor.

That litigation is poised to wrap up soon, with Mitte expected to receive about $23 million — “about $17 million more than we were offered” when the attorney general’s office was involved, Chester testified.

— Rebekah Allen

Lawyers for suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton have a distinct time advantage heading into the seventh day of the impeachment trial before the Texas Senate.

Paxton’s legal team has nine hours and 57 minutes to present evidence and question witnesses, according to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is presiding over the trial.

Lawyers for the House impeachment managers have five hours and 17 minutes remaining, Patrick said.

Both sides began the trial last week with 24 hours each to present evidence, question and cross-examine witnesses.

— Chuck Lindell

House managers called their 11th witness in the impeachment trial: Kendall Garrison, chief executive officer of Amplify Credit Union. His testimony focused on three properties owned by Nate Paul that faced foreclosure because Paul had stopped repaying his loans. Garrison testified the outstanding loans totaled around $11.5 million.

Amplify had posted to sell the properties at auction on Aug. 4.

On Aug. 3, Paul sent Amplify employees an email with a link to an attorney general opinion prohibiting foreclosure during the pandemic, which Garrison said his office dubbed the “midnight” opinion. The opinion, which was published in record time, stated that foreclosure sales could not continue due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“It was surprising to see a ruling issued on a Sunday morning that essentially prohibited foreclosures in the state of Texas,” Garrison said. The bank withdrew the foreclosure sales, but eventually sold them in September.

“Who benefitted from the foreclosure letter?” asked Erin Epley, a lawyer for the House.

“Nate Paul and the World Class Entities,” Garrison said.

During cross examination, Paxton’s lawyers pushed back against that claim and tried to cast doubt on Garrison’s testimony by pointing out Amplify did not lose any money in the eventual foreclosure sales.

– Kate McGee

Brandon Cammack, the Houston attorney that Ken Paxton hired to investigate Nate Paul’s adversaries, testified that Paul’s lawyer provided him with a list of people to subpoena and that, after he received two cease and desist letters, he was told by the Attorney General’s Office that he’d have to “eat” a $14,000 invoice for his work.

Cammack said he became increasingly concerned that he was being misled about why he had been hired after he was visited by U.S. marshals, and felt like he’d “gotten the rug pulled out from me.”

He was asked to drive at the last minute from Houston to Austin for a meeting at Paul’s home. Paxton was there wearing running shorts, but spent most of the time talking on the phone outside. Cammack said he received little new information about what was expected of him, why U.S. marshals had contacted him or why he hadn’t been paid yet.

Cammack also lamented Paxton’s decision to involve him in the Paul matter, saying his name was dragged through the mud, that it hurt him professionally and that the only thing he received in return were two cease and desist letters.

“I had a whole entire life before all of this,” he said.

– Robert Downen