KP George trial: Defense rests in money laundering trial against Fort Bend County Judge

FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas - Day 5 of testimony in the trial of Fort Bend County Judge KP George ended with the defense resting its case, a rebuttal witness from the state, a courtroom dispute over financial records and what testimony could be discussed in front of jurors.

What we know:

The day began with the defense continuing its questioning of its financial expert witness from the afternoon before.

That witness, identified in court as an election law & campaign financial reporting expert, walked jurors through his analysis of campaign finance records and testified about what is and is not allowed under Texas Ethics Commission rules.

The witness testified that candidates are legally allowed to loan money to their own campaign and then pay themselves back up to the amount they are owed. He also told jurors that some expenses should not be counted in the state’s totals if there is no way to determine whether those transactions were campaign-related or personal.

A major point of disagreement involved credit card spending. Taylor testified that he did not include certain credit card expenses in his analysis of KP's finance reports, because there were no itemized records showing exactly what those purchases were used for on his personal credit card. Without that kind of documentation, he said, he could not determine whether the transactions were for campaign use or personal use. 

The defense used that testimony to argue that the money in question should be treated as improper or unreported campaign spending.

After the defense finished questioning Taylor, it rested its case.

In the final hour of court, the state called back after resting their case, an investigator with the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Division, as a rebuttal witness.

Chi had testified earlier in the trial, and this time prosecutors brought her back specifically to respond to issues raised by Taylor’s testimony. The judge told both sides Chi could only testify about the same numbers and records Taylor had discussed and could not go beyond that.

Chi told jurors she reviewed the same 2018 campaign finance records and stood by her calculations. According to her testimony, roughly $46,000 was not properly accounted for.

She also maintained that a few thousand in credit card spending should be included in that total.

Defense attorneys challenged that conclusion, arguing there was no way to verify whether those credit card charges were campaign-related or personal without itemized records. They pointed out that even Taylor testified he could not make that determination because the charges were made on a credit card and not broken down line by line. 

At one point, tensions flared in the courtroom during a heated exchange between prosecutors and defense attorneys over what could be discussed when Chi returned to the stand.

During cross-examination, the defense pressed Chi on how she arrived at her numbers. According to court testimony, Chi said her numbers were accurate and compared her figures to those discussed by Taylor. But the defense argued she had left out or categorized some transactions differently based on whether she believed they were personal expenses.

The state also made another push to get a previously excluded video into the case. Prosecutors asked the judge to admit a translated video in which KP George allegedly discussed money he said he was owed and money he later repaid through campaign fundraising.

According to testimony from a translator who speaks George’s native language, the video included statements along the lines of the main accusation against me is money laundering, and references to taking a loss of $70,000, later repaying it, and then taking $45,000 after raising money. The translation also included a statement that this was described as a normal practice in U.S. elections. 

But the judge denied the state’s request to use the video in front of the jury, saying she had already ruled on the issue. The video was instead preserved in the record as part of a bill of exception in the event of an appeal. 

With that, the evidence portion of the trial concluded.

What's next:

The next step will be for the judge to finalize the jury charge before both sides deliver closing arguments and the case is handed over for deliberation.

If convicted, KP George could face two to 10 years in prison.