AUSTIN, Texas — As embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fights a historic impeachment, his lawyers say they have evidence proving his innocence — including a 2020 wire transfer that purportedly shows the Republican, and not one of his donors, paying more than $120,000 for a home renovation.
But a bank statement that Paxton’s defense team showed to a packed room of journalists Wednesday, to try to disprove the bribery allegations against him, has brought to light details that raise new questions about the attorney general’s relationship with the wealthy donor.
The wire transfer is dated Oct. 1, 2020 — the same day seven of Paxton’s top deputies signed a letter informing the head of human resources at the Texas attorney general’s office that they had reported Paxton to the FBI over accusations of bribery, abuse of office and improper influence.
The $121,000 payment was to Cupertino Builders, whose manager was an associate of Nate Paul, the Austin real estate developer and Paxton donor who is central to the impeachment charges.
The company did not incorporate as a business in Texas until more than three weeks after the transaction took place. A company of the same name was formed in Delaware in April of that year, although public filings there do not make clear who is behind it.
Last year a court-appointed overseer for some of Paul’s companies wrote in a report that Cupertino Builders was used for “fraudulent transfers” from Paul’s business to Narsimha Raju Sagiraju, who was convicted of fraud in California in 2016.
Paul, who also employed a woman with whom Paxton acknowledged having an extramarital affair, has denied bribing Paxton. In a deposition, Paul described Sagiraju as an “independent contractor” and said he didn’t remember how they first met.
The timing of the payment — and the identity of who was paid for renovations at Paxton’s home in Austin — was not publicly known before his new legal team held a news conference in which they put financial documents on a projector screen while calling the impeachment a sham. They were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.