AUSTIN, Texas — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is flush with cash. His campaign says he has more than $22 million on hand. Three million of that came from a conservative political action committee (PAC) called Defend Texas Liberty. It’s leader, former Texas Rep. Jonathan Stickland, calls the impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton a “war against conservatives.”
“It’s designed to try to influence Dan Patrick,” said Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen. “And at the same time, it is a demonstration of the financial wherewithal of this PAC that can be used to punish other Republicans who may vote for conviction.”
Patrick is presiding over Paxton’s impeachment trial. He recently imposed a gag order on the case. The lieutenant governor says statements relating to the trial have been “pervasive, prejudicial, and inflammatory,” and those could be a threat to an impartial trial for Paxton. But Holman suggests the millions of dollars sent to Patrick from Defend Texas Liberty is also worrisome.
“When one sees in Texas, a single political action committee giving $3 million to an officeholder, that reeks of the appearance of corruption,” Holman said. “Many would call it a bribe.”
Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, who will be a juror in the trial, tweeted, “If they’re attempting to influence the carrying out of our solemn constitutional duty to act impartially: shame on Defend Texas Liberty.”
Stickland replied by saying, “Quit defying your gag order.”
Of course, this trial is already different from a normal one because the jury of Senators is familiar with the case and knows the defendant.
Another donor associated with Defend Texas Liberty also sent a $150,000 check to Paxton’s campaign.
“I think that’s really what we need to monitor: Not so much the fact that this group gifts to multiple Republicans, including the lieutenant governor and the attorney general, but rather that they are using their contributions publicly as a kind of carrot and stick to influence the jurors, if you will, in this impeachment proceeding,” said Matthew Wilson, an associate professor of political science at Southern Methodist University.
Holman believes Patrick should have never accepted the money in the first place and says returning the $3 million is the best he can do at this point.
“The $3 million contribution to Dan Patrick not only complicates the entire trial, but it really reflects poorly on the integrity of the lieutenant governor himself,” he said. “He is recognized as assuming the role basically of a judge, overseeing and managing the impeachment trial of Ken Paxton. And yet he’s taking $3 million from the Defend Texas Liberty PAC that has expressly supported Ken Paxton and wants Ken Paxton to be found not guilty of all the impeachment charges.”
But Wilson says expecting Paxton to return the money could turn into a slippery slope.
“I think giving it back potentially becomes complicated in the sense that there are lots of organizations out there that contribute to multiple Republicans or multiple Democrats,” he said. “If we started to go down that path of saying that, if you have any common donors or common supporters with someone who’s accused of wrongdoing, you have to disavow that support, that will put a lot of people in a lot of precarious situations in terms of campaign finance. So I don’t think that he is ethically obligated to return the donation. But he will have to be particularly aware of any appearance of impropriety and make sure he plays everything by the book.”
Spectrum News reached out to Patrick’s team to see if he planned to return the $3 million to Defend Texas Liberty. We also reached out to the PAC. As of publishing, we received no responses.