Ken Paxton's 'secret' investigation dominates day 6 of impeachment trial

HOUSTON - A clandestine investigation, which prosecutors call an "abuse of power", dominated the sixth day of testimony in the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The star witness was Houston attorney Brandon Cammack who was personally recruited by the Attorney General to serve as a so-called "Special Prosecutor."

 "Mr. Paxton said he couldn't get anyone in his office to work on the case," said Cammack.

"So-called" Special Prosecutor because Cammack never received any official credentials.

KEN PAXTON TRIAL: The Impeachment Trial of Ken Paxton - Day 6

"I think I asked probably four or five times over the course of this three or four-week time period, Can I get a badge? Can I get credentials which I never got, but I repeatedly asked for those things," said Cammack.

Cammack told the Senate jury he was instructed by Paxton to work closely with Austin real estate developer Nate Paul and his attorney Michael Winne who provided him with a list of law enforcement targets involved in the FBI search of Paul's home and financial institutions battling Paul in court.

On September 25, 2020, Cammack says he e-mailed between 30 and 40 subpoenas summoning federal and state investigators as well as a U.S. District Court Judge to appear before a criminal grand jury.

Cammack also personally served subpoenas on two Austin financial institutions.

Those actions triggered an immediate reaction.

"I'm getting affirmation that everything is good and then I'm getting cease and desist letters, U.S. Marshals showing up at my office and I'm trying to figure out how did we go from that to this," said Cammack.

Relieved of duty, Cammack says he was later summoned to Austin by Paxton and driven to a coffee shop by the Attorney General and his new second in command.

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"I said, what about my $14,000 invoice? And he said you are going to have to eat that invoice. I've had to eat $40,000 invoices," said Cammack. 

"Are you saying these guys took you over to a Starbucks outside the office, terminated your contract, told you weren't going to get paid, and then drove off and if you hadn't said wait, I got my car, they would have left you in the street?" asked prosecutor Rusty Hardin.

"It's what it looked like," said Cammack.

Cammack also testified during his time working with Paxton the Attorney General asked him to communicate with an encrypted messaging app and non-official phones.