Legal/Law/Criminal Justice and Reform

Paxton Impeachment Trial Could Head To Jury ‘Late Thursday Or Friday,’ Presiding Officer Says

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The impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is on track to begin jury deliberation by the end of the week, the presiding officer stated on Monday.

Presiding officer Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick claims both sides have used half of their allotted time for arguments and there will be no more days off until the trial is resolved. The fifth day of proceedings resumed Monday with testimony from a Paxton whistleblower, former Deputy Attorney General Mark Penley, according to The Associated Press .

“Members of the jury, you may have this in your hands late Thursday or Friday. We will not take a day off until a final resolution,” Patrick said after outlining the time remaining for arguments from either side.

The jury is comprised of the Republican-controlled state Senate, which Paxton worked as a senator before becoming attorney general in 2015. Sen. Angela Paxton, Ken Paxton’s wife, is one of the 31 senators in the chamber, but is not authorized to vote in the trial, the AP reported.

Penley is one of eight whistleblowers anticipated to testify. The whistleblowers are a group of former high-profile staffers in Paxton’s office that notified the FBI of Paxton’s alleged lawbreaking by protecting Austin realtor Nate Paul. The real estate investor claims he was a victim of illegal action by the FBI and allegedly asked the Texas attorney general office for help, wrote NBC 5.

On May 27, the Texas House of Representatives voted to impeach Paxton over allegations of corruption, bribery, obstruction of justice and other charges, which relate to an investigation by the FBI into Paul. Paxton was temporarily removed from office until the resolution of the trial and could be removed from office if two-thirds of Texas senators support his impeachment.

Paxton pleaded not guilty to all 16 articles of impeachment on the first day of the trial. His defense attorneys plan to discredit the accusations with evidence showing that the allegations are based on assumptions and not facts, according to The Tribune.

Neither the office for Patrick nor Paxton did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.