Eye on Politics: Ken Paxton impeachment case revelations
NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) - New revelations in the impeachment of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton. We go one-on-one with Republican presidential candidate and former Texas Congressman Will Hurd. Plus, an exclusive joint interview with Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia about ongoing plans to make the city safer.
Jack Fink has these stories and more in the latest episode of Eye on Politics (original air date: Aug. 17).
Every week, CBS News Texas political reporter Jack Fink breaks down some of the biggest political stories grabbing headlines in North Texas and beyond. Watch the latest episode of Eye on Politics in the video player above and stream new episodes live every Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. on CBS News Texas.
Paxton latest
Suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton used a burner phone, secret email and fake Uber account to hide his alleged mistress and his relationship to a campaign donor named Nate Paul, who was under federal investigation at the time, according to documents newly released by the House impeachment managers this week.
In those documents, the impeachment managers say "Paxton frequently ditched his security detail so he could meet with Paul and others" and that "Uber records reflect drivers picked up Paxton under the alias of 'Dave P' a block from his home and ferried him to his lover's or Paul's properties more than a dozen times" in 2020.
The Texas House impeached Paxton in late May. Included in the 20 articles of impeachment -- accusations he abused the power of his office to benefit himself and Paul.
The impeachment managers say Paul hired Paxton's alleged mistress so she could live in Austin and be closer to Paxton instead of San Antonio, and that Paul paid for renovations to Paxton's home. Documents say Paxton used his office to interfere with a federal investigation into Paul, and help Paul avoid foreclosures of some of his properties.
The House impeachment managers filed the documents to push back against Paxton's motions that the articles of impeachment should be dropped and that voters knew about all of the allegations before they reelected him last year. They said: "Paxton's denials, half-truths, and downright lies enabled him to conceal the truth from the public."
In response, the lead attorney from for Paxton, Tony Buzbee, issued a statement describing the impeachment trial as "nothing but a sham" and said "it should end now."
Paxton has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. The trial starts Sept. 5. The Texas Senate will have to decide whether to remove any of the impeachment articles against Paxton on the first day of the trial.
Read the House managers' response to Paxton's motion to dismiss:
One-on-one with Will Hurd
This week Jack sat down for a one-on-one interview with Republican presidential candidate and former Texas Congressman Will Hurd to discuss why he's running and what his top priorities would be if elected. Watch the full conversation below:
Crime in Dallas
New statistics from the Dallas Police Department show violent crime fell in targeted hot spots during the second year of its violent crime reduction plan.
Police Chief Eddie Garcia and Mayor Eric Johnson spoke with Jack about the plan during a joint exclusive interview.
Watch the full interview below:
DPD has been working with the University of Texas at San Antonio and criminologist Michael Smith, and has divided the city into more than 101,000 grids, each one 330 feet by 330 feet.
The department focuses on the most violent 50 to 65 grids at a time for about 60 days, and they change based on current data. It uses a hot-spot policing strategy, featuring officer visibility and intelligence to turn around communities.
Watch the story below to hear how residents of one Dallas neighborhood say the violent crime reduction plan has made a life-changing difference for their family: