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Texas voters conflicted on handling of Ken Paxton impeachment, poll finds

attorneylegalcounsel99 — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 12:53:37 +0000

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Texas voters writ large appear conflicted on how the Legislature and its leaders handled the impeachment of attorney General Ken Paxton, according to a new poll. But Republican voters give clearly higher marks to the state Senate than the House.

The Texas House impeached Paxton in May, and the Senate acquitted him last month — a verdict that continues to roil Texas politics.

The survey from the University of Texas at Austin, conducted Oct. 5-17, asked voters how they approved of the way five different entities handled the impeachment and trial: the House, House Speaker Dade Phelan, the Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott.

Thirty-two percent of voters approved of the House’s handling of the impeachment, while 29% disapproved and the rest were unsure or had no opinion. That split was similar for the Senate, 33% to 31%.

Narrowed down to GOP voters, however, there was a starker difference. Republicans gave the House a 36% approval rating to a 22% disapproval rating, while they gave the Senate a 32-point net approval rating — 46% to 14%.

There was a similar contrast between how Republicans graded the performance of the chambers’ leaders. GOP voters were almost evenly split on how Phelan handled the impeachment — 25% approved and 26% disapproved — while Patrick got a better score, with 44% approving and 12% disapproving.

As for Abbott, Republicans approved of his performance during the process, 52% to 10%. The governor had no formal role other than appointing two interim attorneys general, and he avoided expressing any personal opinions about the allegations against Paxton.

The numbers for the two legislative leaders are especially relevant given the intraparty warfare that has since broken out.

Patrick ended the trial with a speech that blasted the House for allegedly cutting corners on the impeachment process. Phelan responded by accusing Patrick of being biased all along after taking $3 million in campaign funding from a pro-Paxton group in June. That group, Defend Texas Liberty PAC, has since become embroiled in controversy after The Texas Tribune reported it hosted prominent white supremacist Nick Fuentes. Amid pressure from Phelan and his allies, Patrick announced Monday that his campaign was purchasing $3 million in bonds for Israel.

Other poll results indicate Republican opposition to the impeachment has risen in recent months. When the pollsters first asked in June whether the House was justified in impeaching Paxton, GOP voters were almost equally split, with 31% saying yes and 30% saying no. But in the latest poll, that split was 26% to 43%.

When the pollsters first asked in August if Paxton took actions that justify his removal from office, 24% of Republicans agreed and 32% disagreed. That split widened to 27% to 44% in the most recent survey.

The poll respondents were well aware of the Paxton story. Seventy-nine percent of all voters said they had heard “some” or “a lot” in the news about the impeachment trial, while the figure was 80% among Republicans.

School vouchers

The poll also covered an issue that is at the top of the agenda for state lawmakers in the current special session: school vouchers. Abbott has been pushing all year for lawmakers to create a program that would allow parents to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize private school costs. The idea has long encountered opposition in the House, where Democrats and rural Republicans have formed a coalition to block it.

Echoing previous polls, the latest survey found that Abbott’s push is popular among voters but not a high priority when it comes to other education issues lawmakers are considering.

Asked if they support “establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other ‘school choice’ program,” voters registered 51% support and 30% opposition. Support was higher among GOP voters, with 66% favoring the proposal and 16% opposing it.

One of the challenges for Abbott right now is that he has ordered lawmakers to pass education savings accounts, but a bloc of GOP House members will not consider it unless the program can be grouped with other education proposals like teacher pay raises.

To that end, the poll found that voters see vouchers as a lower education priority than other items that were offered, including school safety, teacher pay and retention, curriculum content, “parental rights” and public school funding. (Abbott has used “parental rights” as a broader rallying cry for his voucher push.)

The 2024 elections

The poll also asked voters about some of the major upcoming elections in Texas.

In the March primary, Donald Trump has an overwhelming lead for the GOP nomination for president. Sixty-two percent of voters said they were supporting him, followed by 13% for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and 7% for Nikki Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Every other candidate was at 3% or below.

Trump would defeat President Joe Biden 45% to 37% in November, according to the poll. Thirteen percent of respondents said they would support someone else, and 5% said they have not thought about it enough to have an opinion.

In the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas leads state Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio 21% to 10%, with every other candidate in the low single digits. However, a near-majority of voters is not yet tuning in, with 46% saying they either do not know or have not thought about it enough to have an opinion.

The survey included 1,200 registered voters in Texas who were interviewed using an online survey panel. The margin of error was plus-or-minus 2.83 percentage points.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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Prosecution Rests at Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Impeachment Trial

attorneylegalcounsel99 — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 08:53:54 +0000

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A woman who was expected to testify about an extramarital affair with Texas attorney General Ken Paxton made a sudden appearance Wednesday at his impeachment trial, but never took the stand as the prosecutors abruptly rested their case against the Republican.

The affair is central to the historic proceedings and accusations that Paxton misused his power to help Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, who was under FBI investigation and employed the woman, Laura Olson. One of the 16 articles of impeachment against Paxton alleges that Paul’s hiring of Olson amounted to a bribe.

Olson was called to take the stand Wednesday morning in the Texas Senate and waited outside the chamber. But her testimony was delayed for hours before Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is acting as the trial’s judge, said toward the end of the day that Olson would not testify after all. He provided no further explanation but said both sides had agreed to it.

“She is present but has been deemed unavailable to testify,” Patrick said.

Shortly after the announcement, Rusty Hardin, a lawyer for the bipartisan group of lawmakers prosecuting Paxton’s impeachment said he was resting their case. Paxton attorney Tony Buzbee then moved to end the trial on the grounds of insufficient evidence, but later withdrew the request without a vote shorty before the trial adjourned for the day. It was scheduled to resume Thursday.

Political Cartoons

Paxton, who was suspended from office pending the outcome of the trial, is not required to attend the proceedings. He has not appeared in the Senate since testimony began last week. As the scene played out Wednesday evening, the attorney general posted on social media that he was headed to Maine next week to talk with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson about “the last two weeks in Texas politics.”

“It should be interesting!” Paxton said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Olson also previously worked for Republican state Sen. Donna Campbell, who will have a vote in the trial. That underscores the many entanglements Ken Paxton has in the building as he fights for his political life after years of alleged scandal and criminal charges.

Former staff have testified that Paxton admitted to them that he had an affair. The three-term incumbent, who was reelected last November, has not discussed it publicly.

Olson has not spoken publicly about her relationship with Texas’ top law enforcement officer and his dealings with Paul, who was indicted in June on charges of making false statements to banks. Paul has pleaded not guilty.

Paxton’s former executive aide, Drew Wicker, testified Wednesday, describing Paxton as a friend and saying he met Paul three times, including once to deliver him a manila envelope and another to pick up Paxton’s phone that he had left at Paul’s house.

When Paxton began staying in an Austin hotel in 2020 while his home was being renovated, Wicker said, Paxton would call off his protective detail and have Wicker pick him up and drop him off instead. He said Paxton frequently did things and went places that were not on his schedule, including meetings with Paul, and that he saw Paxton and Olson together at the hotel.

Wicker said the cost for new countertops and cabinetry in Paxton’s kitchen came to about $20,000. He said he grew concerned after the contractor said three times that he would have to “check with Nate.”

Wicker said he told Paxton that he was left with the impression that Paul was involved in the renovations of Paxton’s home.

“It felt like there might be an inappropriate relationship there,” Wicker recalled telling Paxton. He said Paxton said that was not the case.

On cross-examination, Paxton lawyer Buzbee showed Wicker bank statements that Wicker affirmed appeared to show Paxton paying for the renovations to his home. At a June news conference, Buzbee displayed bank records that showed Paxton making that payment to a company run by an associate of Paul one day after the attorney general’s deputies reported him to the FBI.

The FBI investigation of Paxton and Paul’s dealings also scrutinized the renovations, with at least one Austin contractor receiving a grand jury subpoena in 2021 for records related to the work.

Bleiberg reported from Dallas.

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Pressure mounts on Texas senators ahead of Ken Paxton impeachment trial

attorneylegalcounsel99 — Thu, 24 Aug 2023 22:49:38 +0000

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Political pressure is intensifying around Republican state senators who will serve as the jurors in the impeachment trial of suspended attorney General Ken Paxton.

Paxton’s allies are singling out a half dozen senators for lobbying. A mysterious entity is airing TV ads targeting certain senators. And an influential establishment group is urging senators to oppose efforts to effectively stop the trial before it starts.

“Anyone that votes against Ken Paxton in this impeachment is risking their entire political career and we will make sure that is the case,” Jonathan Stickland, who runs the pro-Paxton Defend Texas Liberty PAC, said Thursday in a media appearance.

The high-stakes trial of Texas’ top legal official is scheduled to start Sept. 5. It comes after the House impeached Paxton in May, accusing him of a yearslong pattern of misconduct and lawbreaking centered on his relationship with Nate Paul, an Austin real-estate investor and Paxton campaign donor. Paxton, a Republican in his third term, was immediately suspended from office, and the trial will determine whether he will be permanently removed.

His fate lies in the hands of the 30 senators who can vote in the trial. (His wife, Sen. Angela Paxton, is recused.) Removal requires a two-thirds vote, meaning that if all 12 Democrats vote to convict Paxton, nine of the 18 remaining Republicans would have to cross over to force him out. Furthermore, only a majority vote is required for senators to grant a pretrial motion to dismiss, which would come before any opening statements. While that would require 16 of the 18 voting Republicans – assuming all Democrats oppose it — it may be a tempting option for GOP senators who do not want to go through with a weeks-long trial where the spotlight on them will burn even brighter.

Paxton’s supporters have touted him as the tip of the spear in Texas’ battles against President Joe Biden’s administration. The impeachment, they argue, is a plot by the Republican establishment to take him out after failing to defeat him in his reelection campaign last year.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is presiding over the trial, imposed a strict gag order on senators that largely prohibits them from commenting on the case publicly. Shortly after Paxton’s impeachment in May, several GOP senators issued identical or similar statements telling constituents they could not discuss the case but welcomed their feedback.

Paxton’s allies have gotten more aggressive in recent days. On Tuesday, Dallas County GOP activist Lauren Davis went on the show of Steve Bannon, the former Donald Trump strategist, and urged viewers to apply pressure to six GOP senators: Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills, Bryan Hughes of Mineola, Charles Schwertner of Georgetown, Charles Perry of Lubbock, Drew Springer of Muenster and Mayes Middleton of Galveston. She said Middleton was especially important to lobby given that he was a top donor to Paxton’s primary challengers in 2022.

“We’re gonna make all these six famous in the days ahead,” Bannon said.

Earlier in the week, Davis used her group, Moms Love Freedom, to launch a petition asking the Senate to dismiss the articles of impeachment “with prejudice.”

Davis was the 2022 Republican nominee for Dallas County judge and is currently running for Dallas County GOP chair, challenging an incumbent. She shares a political consultant, Axiom Strategies, with Paxton.

The pressure ramped up more Wednesday, when a new group began airing TV ads targeting certain senators before the Republican presidential primary debate on Fox News. One commercial targets Schwertner and asks viewers to call him and “tell him to stand up to the left and stop the impeachment of our attorney general.”

The group, San Jacinto 2023, ran $31,000 in ads Wednesday and was set to air another $6,000 on Thursday, all on Fox News, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. While it was not immediately clear which senators they all targeted, the ad buy was in the Abilene, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Waco and San Antonio markets.

San Jacinto 2023 is a Virginia-based corporation that was formed June 28, according to records in the state. Other records show the group uses a media buyer, Ax Media, that is part of Axiom Strategies, Paxton’s political consulting firm. Those records list the group’s treasurer as Nancy Rennaker, an employee at The Gober Group, an Austin-based law firm that Paxton has used.

Rennaker did not respond to a request for comment.

Then on Thursday, the deep-pocketed GOP group Texans for Lawsuit Reform issued a rare public statement on the impeachment process. The group, which heavily funded one of Paxton’s primary challengers in 2022, reiterated it “had nothing to do with” his impeachment, a day after the Dallas Morning News reported that Paxton’s lawyers planned to call TLR founder Richard Weekley as a witness.

But what came next was more notable. The group, which was sitting on a $33 million warchest as of June 30, made clear it expected senators to oppose the pretrial motions to dismiss — or anything else that could derail a full-blown trial.

“There is an ongoing effort underway to intimidate the Senators into abandoning their constitutional obligations and acquitting Paxton before the trial even begins and the evidence has been presented,” the statement said. “These efforts are disrespectful of the constitutional impeachment process and insulting to the integrity of the Texas Senate.”

“TLR expects the Senate will conduct a fair, open and thorough trial and that each Senator will make her or his decision solely on the evidence presented,” the statement added, putting an emphasis on “solely.”

The statement was only attributed to Texans for Lawsuit Reform and not any specific representative of the group.

Such an intervention is likely to further inflame tension with Paxton and his allies, who have long theorized the impeachment was initiated by a GOP establishment that failed to defeat him at the ballot box last year.

That became clearer when Davis returned to Bannon’s show Thursday and elaborated on why she named those six. She said four of them — Hughes, Middleton, Perry and Springer — may be listening to political consultants who have “vendettas” against Paxton and noted all four share a consultant who previously worked for Paxton.

Davis’ appeared to be a reference to Jordan Berry, an Austin-based consultant who resigned from Paxton’s campaign in 2020 after senior officials in his office asked federal law enforcement to probe Paxton’s relationship with Paul. Berry declined to comment.

Davis appeared on the show jointly with Stickland, a former state representative whose PAC has been a top defender of Paxton. It has already put up billboards and sent out text messages attacking House Republicans who supported Paxton’s impeachment.

“We’re spending millions of dollars,” Stickland said. “We think this is a huge fight.”

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Clemency sought for Texas death row inmate Andre Thomas

attorneylegalcounsel99 — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 08:41:05 +0000

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Editor’s note: This story contains graphic content.

A clemency petition for death row inmate Andre Thomas was filed Wednesday asking that Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles commute the blind 39-year-old’s sentence to life in prison or grant a reprieve to determine if Thomas is competent to be executed this year.

Attached to the clemency petition were letters of support from dozens of Texas mental health professionals and more than 100 Texas faith leaders. Thomas, who first began experiencing hallucinations as a child, is facing an April 5 execution date.

“We are united in our conviction that it would be a senseless act of vengeance,” Rev. Dr. Jaime Kowlessar, senior pastor of Dallas City Temple, said during a news conference Wednesday. “The answer to violence is never more violence.”

Since his initial arrest in 2004 for the stabbing deaths of his estranged wife, Laura Boren, 20; their 4-year-old son, Andre Jr.; and her 1-year-old daughter, Leyha Hughes, Thomas has gouged out both his eyes. He immediately confessed to the murders and told investigators God had told him to carry out the killings. He was found guilty the following year in the youngest child’s death, which carries an automatic death sentence.

“Andre Thomas is one of the most mentally ill prisoners in Texas history. Only the most mentally ill person could undertake these acts of permanent self-mutilation,” Maurie Levine, his attorney, said Wednesday. “If ever there was a case that warranted mercy, it is this one.”

Thomas has experienced mental illness his entire life and has been treated with medication while in prison

A day before the murders, Thomas sought help at a local hospital for his delusions. The intake form noted that he appeared psychotic and suicidal. He was left alone, and, believing that no one was helping him, he left the hospital.

Last October, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request to consider an appeal of Thomas’ conviction, in which his lawyers argued that members of the jury that convicted him of killing his wife and two children had expressed racist views.

Thomas’ appellate lawyers had argued that three members of the all-white jury — which found Thomas, who is Black, guilty — had expressed opposition to interracial marriage. His wife was white. Thomas’ trial lawyer did not object to the jurors at the time.

Five days after the murders, while awaiting trial in the Grayson County jail, he gouged out his right eye. After he was sent to state prison, he gouged out his remaining eye and ate it.

At a news conference called by his attorney to discuss the filing, Levine pointed out that House Bill 727 authored by state Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas, would ensure that capital defendants with “severe mental illness” are sentenced to life without parole rather than death.

In 2021, the House passed similar legislation with strong bipartisan support. The legislation is not retroactive and would not apply to Thomas or others who have already been convicted.

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Clemency sought for Texas death row inmate Andre Thomas

attorneylegalcounsel99 — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 05:02:30 +0000

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

Editor’s note: This story contains graphic content.

Thomas has experienced mental illness his entire life and has been treated with medication while in prison

Five days after the murders, while awaiting trial in the Grayson County jail, he gouged out his right eye. After he was sent to state prison, he gouged out his remaining eye and ate it.

In 2021, the House passed similar legislation with strong bipartisan support. The legislation is not retroactive and would not apply to Thomas or others who have already been convicted.

The post Clemency sought for Texas death row inmate Andre Thomas appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Clemency sought for Texas death row inmate Andre Thomas

attorneylegalcounsel99 — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 01:24:49 +0000

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

Editor’s note: This story contains graphic content.

Thomas has experienced mental illness his entire life and has been treated with medication while in prison

Five days after the murders, while awaiting trial in the Grayson County jail, he gouged out his right eye. After he was sent to state prison, he gouged out his remaining eye and ate it.

In 2021, the House passed similar legislation with strong bipartisan support. The legislation is not retroactive and would not apply to Thomas or others who have already been convicted.

The post Clemency sought for Texas death row inmate Andre Thomas appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.