September 8, 2023

On Friday morning, the fourth day of the Ken Paxton impeachment trial, Rusty Hardin did his best to rehabilitate Ryan “No Evidence” Vassar after Thursday’s bombshell admission that the co-conspirators went to the FBI with no evidence. Vassar tried to say that he meant to say that the co-conspirators went to the FBI with themselves and their “experiences”– they are the “good faith” evidence (“The absence of documents is the evidence I was referring to”). This is ridiculous on its face and, if true, their character is relevant.

We finally got a reprieve from Rusty when Dick DeGuerin presented David Maxwell. Maxwell’s testimony mimicked his statements to the House “investigators”: “I told [Paxton] that Nate Paul was a criminal who was running a Ponzi scheme that would have rivaled Billy Sol Estes.” Said differently, Maxwell heard about Nate Paul (a man with no criminal history), searched him up on the old Google machine, and prejudged Paul and his allegations. Then, Maxwell participated in a series of meetings with Paul (and his former federal prosecutor lawyer, Michael Wynne) where Paul/Wynne complained that a metadata analysis of the federal search warrants demonstrates that a PDF was illegally modified.

Maxwell told Paul/Wynne that he [and Penley] would investigate: 

·      “Maybe I can get some answers for you”

·      “I’ll sit down with the DA”

Meanwhile, Mark Penley did not even know the fundamentals of metadata:

The truth is this: Ken Paxton dared to override the great David Maxwell. While Maxwell’s direct examination by DeGuerin made him seem like an honest law enforcement officer, the truth is quite different. Here’s the truth:

*Maxwell’s “evidence” submitted to the House investigators were based on rumor, gossip, innuendo, speculation, and hearsay without saying so (“It’s up to them to figure it out”)

**Said differently, Maxwell repeated salacious gossip to try to support his case against Paxton  

*Maxwell is so dishonest that he pretended to not hear Dan Cogdell’s questions on cross examination “to throw him off” 

Q. [by Cogdell] Is that one of the things you learn by experience Ranger, to pause and act like you haven’t heard the question? 

A. [by Maxwell] Maybe.

Q. What did you learn?

A. I learned it throws you off.

*Maxwell has no real estate experience whatsoever

*Maxwell did not even think that it was important enough to attend the FBI meeting on September 30 with his co-conspirators

**Said differently, Maxwell spun up his co-conspirators and led the conspiracy against Paxton and hung ‘em out to dry on September 30

*Maxwell, just like the other co-conspirators, is represented by Johnny Sutton

*Maxwell is not in the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame (and there is no evidence about his investigative ability or experience whatsoever)

Here’s the bottom line: tenured law enforcement can be guilty of insubordination. Of course, this behavior enhanced Maxwell’s credibility with the House investigators (former Harris County prosecutors who were insubordinate to Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos). Maxwell likened his situation to Harris County: “It’s kind of like what happened with the Harris County D.A.’s Office.”

The statutorily proscribed duties of law enforcement officers are important to note. For district attorneys: 

“It shall be the primary duty of all prosecuting attorneys, including any special prosecutors, not to convict, but to see that justice is done.  They shall not suppress facts or secrete witnesses capable of establishing the innocence of the accused.”

For peace officers:

“It is the duty of every peace officer to preserve the peace within the officer’s jurisdiction [using ‘all lawful means’.”

Shouldn’t the same obligation apply here? Can Maxwell even investigate a case? The only two types of cases that were mentioned were (1) narcotics [not applicable here] and (2) the Waco siege [we all know that did not go well]. The only evidence about Maxwell’s service is his own. And, life experience should tell you that great [insert the occupation] do not grandstand about their abilities. Maxwell takes credit for investigating the railroad killer, Ángel Maturino Reséndiz, a Mexican serial killer; but, Texas Ranger Drew Carter was the hero in that story, not Maxwell. You may have seen the recent episode of Catching Killers on Netflix featuring Carter. If you haven’t, watch it ASAP because it is the story of a true Texas Ranger hero. So, does Maxwell routinely take credit for things he didn’t do? Does he routinely tell tall tales? Is Maxwell all hat and no cattle?

Remove David Maxwell out of the context of the Paxton trial. What if he behaved this way in a murder trial? What if he was on your local police force and refused to investigate an allegation because he did not like a complainant? What if he prejudged a case and failed to conduct an investigation? What if he jammed up the wrong guy because he went with his instinct/belief/feelings?

Questions Remain

Why did Maxwell lead Paul/Wynne on [pretend to investigate]?

Why did Maxwell lie to the House investigators? 

What other lies about Paxton has Maxwell told? And who did he tell these lies to?

Has Maxwell been in communication with Greg Abbott? Karl Rove? 

How did Maxwell know to hire Johnny Sutton? Has Johnny Sutton communicated with Greg Abbott/Karl Rove on Maxwell’s behalf?

If it was so important to go to the FBI [with no evidence] on September 30, why wasn’t the ringleader [Maxwell] there? 

When did Maxwell schedule his Colorado vacation? 

Does Maxwell have any conflicts related to Paul/Wynne?

What connections does Maxwell have with the House investigators? 

Did Maxwell have it in for Paxton after Paxton fired Maxwell’s protector, Chip Roy?

Why now?

Who is next?

What has been promised to each of these conspirators

Who is paying their lawyers?

How did they find their lawyer?

What have they shared with the lawyers in violation of the law?

How far has the insubordination spread within the AG’s Office?

Are we going to let the Bush junta (led by Karl Rove, Greg Abbott, and TLR) run Texas?

Does Maxwell owe the FBI or feel such allegiance to the FBI and DPS for solving his sister’s murder?

Is it in the realm of possibility that Nate Paul could be the victim here [and somebody stole his most valuable real estate assets]?

Policing the police is tough duty, I wrote about it here about Clint Greenwood. Wayne Dolecefino did a story about Nate Paul five months ago. I encourage you to watch it. There is a lot more to the story and I need to spend time getting to understand what happened here.

Some hard truths that must be said. First, the role of the jurors is to set aside their politics and vote according to the law and evidence. Second, we have many jurors with bias and conflict. For example, the House includes the questioning of Brent Webster by Joan Huffman as an exhibit. Joan Huffman joined with TLR to champion the Fifteenth Court of Appeals and the Business Courts. Also, her son works for TLR, the same people who spent millions upon millions trying to oust Ken Paxton. Can Huffman, one of Rusty Hardin’s protégés or “girls” at the Harris County DA’s Office, honestly serve here? Mayes Middleton financed the Louis Gohmert campaign against Paxton. Can he honestly serve here? This isn’t a “vote your district” situation. So far, the House has not produced one credible shred of evidence to meet their beyond a reasonable doubt burden of proof.

What about the fact that one of the co-conspirators refuses to come to Texas for the trial? What does that say?

It is time for the grassroots to come together against this abomination. Call your senator today. If your house member supported this, run someone against them.