Ken Paxton impeachment trial underway; Wednesday’s testimonies said an extramarital affair ‘helped connect the dots.’

More than 100 are expected to testify against the Texas Attorney General

By

National News

September 6, 2023 - 3:45 PM

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, center, sits with his lawyers Tony Buzbee, left, and Dan Cogdell, right, at the beginning of the first day of Paxton's impeachment trial in the Texas Senate chambers at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. The Texas House, including a majority at the of its GOP members, voted to impeach Paxton for alleged corruption in May. (Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News/TNS)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — An extramarital affair Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had with a donor’s employee helped connect the dots about why the Republican was using his power in ways that are now at the center of his impeachment trial on accusations of corruption, a former top aide testified Wednesday.

“It answered that ‘why’ question,” said Jeff Mateer, who was Paxton’s second-in-command at the Texas attorney general’s office.

The account by Mateer, who went on to report Paxton to the FBI in 2020 over allegations of abuse of office, quickly injected an affair that Paxton has acknowledged to staff into the historic impeachment trial — the gravest threat to Paxton’s political career after years of criminal charges and alleged scandal.

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