(The Center Square) – In the cross examination of former Office of Attorney General staffers Jeff Mateer and Ryan Vassar, the attorneys for impeached AG Ken Paxton said their testimony citing no evidence to support their claims was like someone “playing the telephone game” or a “self-licking ice cream cone.”
Paxton lead attorney Tony Buzbee asked Mateer, “Wouldn’t you want to make sure you were absolutely sure that Ken Paxton was doing something untoward and illegal before you went to the FBI? … Shouldn’t you be sure before you do that?”
“We were confident,” Mateer said.
“You were confident Nate Paul made repairs on his [Paxton’s] home?” Buzbee asked.
“I had been told that, yes,” Mateer replied.
“Who told you that?” Buzbee asked.
“Either Mr. Whicker or Mr. Rylander,” referring to former OAG employees.
“Seems to me it would be so important you would remember who told you that. You’re telling me somebody told me my boss was having a campaign donor pay for renovations of his house and you can’t even tell us who told you that?”
Buzbee then brought up the telephone game where someone “whispers something to somebody else. And they turn around and whisper something to somebody else. And they turn around and whisper something to somebody else and so on and so on. And they let the last person repeat what they think they were told. Sometimes, it’s comical how different the story is … and that’s what happened here.”
“Do you know that it’s not true,” referring to Paul paying for Paxton’s home renovations, Buzbee asked. “I do not know that,” Mateer replied.
“Have you ever tried to find out?” Buzbee asked. “No, that’s why we went to law enforcement for them to find out,” Mateer replied.
“Why didn’t you just ask Ken Paxton? He could have shown you the invoices, the wires, the receipts, you didn’t ask?” Buzbee continued.
“I saw them because you had a press conference where you had them,” Mateer replied.
@KenPaxtonTX attorney Tony Buzbee compares Jeff Mateer’s claims to the “telephone game.” pic.twitter.com/Wcra2LUzDI— Bethany Blankley (@BethanyBlankley) September 12, 2023
During Paxton attorney Mitch Little’s cross examination of former deputy attorney general for legal counsel Ryan Vassar, Vassar testified that he and the other former staffers who went to the FBI had no evidence to support their claims.
He also testified that he deleted emails from his office computer, a conclusion found by OAG investigators. The investigation found that “some of the Complainants operated in an unaccountable manner by not documenting their actions, instructing subordinates not to document their actions, dismissing other employees so that they could have secret meetings, deleting emails, and potentially other acts taken to conceal behaviors, processes, and evidence,” according to an official August 2020 report.
The House GIC alleged the report was a “sham investigation” in Article VII and contains “false and misleading statements” in Article XV, for which Paxton was impeached.
Little asked Vassar if he deleted official records. Vassar said he deleted emails to his personal attorney, which included copies of records from the office.
“It seems Mr. Vassar that one of the things you are accusing Ken Paxton of doing is by allowing people outside of the office of the Attorney General to see secret things they shouldn’t see,” Little said.
When he asked Vassar if he believed Paxton was forwarding “secret information” to people outside the office who shouldn’t have it, Vassar replied, “that is a suspicion.”
“You don’t even have enough to make an accusation. You speculated, right?” Little asked.
“Yes, sir,” Vassar replied.
“But that’s what you did, isn’t it?” Little asked.
“No, I forwarded it to my personal lawyer for purposes of legal advice,” Vassar said.
In preparing a foreclosure opinion at the heart of the Article II allegation, “Ken Paxton didn’t direct you, Ryan Banger did, yes?,” Little asked, referring to his fired superior.
“Yes,” Vassar said.
Article II alleges that Paxton “misused his official power to issue written legal opinions” and “caused employees to prepare an opinion” to benefit Paul.
“This allegation is not true?” Little asked. “Ken Paxton is innocent of this allegation, isn’t he? … You don’t know that these properties belong to Nate Paul, do you?
“Nothing than what’s been reported in the media,” Vassar replied.
“What’s been reported in the media?
“Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘self-licking ice cream cone’ before? A self-licking ice cream cone is when a bunch of employees at the attorney general’s office begin to suspect their boss. They read [accusations] in the media. They believe what the media says. They report it to the FBI, and then the media reports that you went to the FBI. That’s a self-licking ice cream cone.
“You don’t know if this article is true or false, do you?” Little asked.
“No sir, I didn’t write this,” Vassar replied.
@KenPaxtonTX attorney Mitch Little describes a self-licking ice cream cone to former OAG fired staffer Ryan Vassar, who testified he had no evidence when he went to the FBI to allege Paxton committed a crime. pic.twitter.com/SI4Jjfs4EP— Bethany Blankley (@BethanyBlankley) September 12, 2023
