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Fighting the Bush family
Blaming the Bush family in part for his legal woes, suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton's lawyers declared Friday they are out to extinguish that family's influence in Texas politics once and for all.
"Let it be known, let it be clear now, the Bush era in Texas ends today," said Tony Buzbee, a lead attorney from Houston who is trying to save Paxton from being convicted and removed from office by the Texas Senate.
Throughout the two-week Paxton impeachment trial, Buzbee has tried to paint the picture of former Paxton employees conspiring with former Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush to tarnish Paxton's reputation so Bush could become the next Texas Attorney General. Bush, the grandson of former president George H.W. Bush and nephew of former president George W. Bush, ran against Paxton in 2022 and lost in the primary.
Witnesses denied they were acting on behalf of George P. Bush, some saying they had never even met him. Still, Buzbee pointed to other Bush family connections to key players in the trial and noted George P. Bush renewed his law license on the day a group of seven whistleblowers went to the FBI with their concerns about Paxton's alleged corruption. Buzbee asserted that there is a saying that "there are no coincidences in Austin."
Buzbee said Paxton, a Collin County Republican, already beat George P. Bush once and if acquitted by the Senate, it will end the Bush family legacy in the state.
"They can go back to Maine," Buzbee said in his closing arguments about the Bush family vacation home in that state.
It is worth noting that George P. Bush was born in Houston - not Maine - and got his law degree from the University of Texas. His grandfather George H.W. Bush was a trailblazer for the Republican Party in Texas and Houston. He was the chairman of the Harris County Republican Party in 1963 when the state was dominated by Democrats. In 1966 he won the 7th Congressional District in Houston, becoming just one of two Republicans in Congress from Texas that year.
 | Jeremy Wallace, Texas politics reporter |
Who's up, who's down
Up: Texas Senate.
The testimony and closing arguments in the two-week Ken Paxton impeachment trial finally wrapped up on Friday where Senators had to remain at their desks for hours acting as jurors in the case. Now 30 members of the Texas Senate are finally able to deliberate over whether to convict Paxton and potentially bar him from running for office in Texas ever again.
Down: Hunter Biden.
After a plea deal fell through earlier this year, Hunter Biden, the president's son, has now been indicted for lying about his drug use on a form when he bought a firearm in October 2018. It certainly means he'll continue to be central to Republican attacks on the Biden administration going into the 2024 election cycle.
What do you think? Hit reply and let me know.
What else is going on in Texas
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Pick of the day
Photo by: Nadya Hassan
You'll have to wait another day for the latest Texas Take podcast. A new episode with Scott Braddock and me breaking down the Ken Paxton trial is set to be released Saturday as we wait on the Texas Senate.
What else I'm reading
A Willie Nelson record without Trigger? It's true. John Spong at Texas Monthly writes about how Nelson doesn't play his guitar Trigger at all on his new album Bluegrass. As the title suggests, it is filled with bluegrass takes on some of his biggest hits like Good Hearted Woman. Trigger was in the studio, but only as an onlooker.
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