Investor fires back at attorney general
Businessman’s letter extends controversy of Paxton allegations
When Ken Paxton announced Friday his office was dropping the investigation into an Austin real estate investor’s claims of mistreatment during a federal raid of his home and business, the attorney general may have hoped the questions swirling around his relationship with Nate Paul would dissipate.
But a letter released late Sunday by Paul’s attorney that appears to be laying the foundation for a lawsuit against Paxton’s office dispelled any notion the controversy would go away soon.
Questions about Paxton’s connection to Paul have flown fast and thick since October 4, when the Austin American-Statesman revealed that seven of his top lieutenants at the attorney general’s office had accused their boss of inappropriately using his position to benefit an unnamed person. Hearst Newspapers identified Paul as the businessman the following day.
Over the past decade, Paul amassed a huge real estate portfolio, including marquee properties in downtown Austin. Recently it has shown signs of severe financial stress, with nearly 20 of his companies filing for bankruptcy protection; some faced foreclosure. In August 2019, federal and state authorities raided Paul’s office and home. No charges have been filed.
Although Paxton has described Paul as a friend — and records show Paul gave $25,000 to Paxton’s 2018 re-election campaign — details of their relationship remain a mystery. As Paxton’s office was rocked over the past week by the allegations of impropriety and resignation of his top deputy, media reports quickly revealed several incidents in which Paxton’s ac
“The contention that the OAG intervention somehow benefitted my client is preposterous.” Michael Wynne, attorney for Nate Paul
tions appear to have been intended to benefit Paul and his businesses.
Until now, Paul and his attorney, Michael Wynne, have remained mostly silent. But Sunday's letter, in which Wynne demands that the attorney general's office preserve documents related to the investor's contact with Paxton's office, flips that narrative.
In it, Wynne asserts that, far from helping his client's cause, deep dysfunction inside Paxton's office scuttled his client's legitimate claim of abuse at the hands of federal investigators and has led to “a chaotic public spectacle of allegations.”
In Wynne's telling, investigators' behavior during the August 2019 raid against Paul were “among the most egregious examples of inappropriate behavior by government officials that I have witnessed in my professional experience.” The searchers tampered with records and then gave testimony contradicted by documents, he wrote.
Paul took his complaints to District Attorney Margaret Moore, who advised him that Paxton's office was the correct agency to conduct any investigation of wrongdoing on the part of the searchers , including the FBI. But when Paul detailed his complaints, Paxton's staff was dismissive and abusive, Wynne wrote.
At a July meeting, Paul's team was “met with open hostility,” Wynne wrote. Paxton's director of law enforcement, David Maxwell, “berated and insulted my client for bringing the complaint.”
Wynne said additional meetings with Paxton's staff yielded the same “hostile attitude.”
Paxton personally attended a third meeting, Wynne wrote. At it, Paul demonstrated that the attorney general's review of his complaint had been cursory and contained several errors, and that “this appeared to be an embarrassment to your office,” Wynne recounted in the letter.
In the version of events described by Wynne, it was the mishandling of Paul's complaint by Paxton's staff that led to the hiring of an outside lawyer, Houston defense attorney Brandon Cammack. Only five years out of law school, Cammack seemed to some an odd choice to conduct a highprofile and sophisticated investigation into alleged FBI misbehavior.
When Cammack issued dozens of subpoenas, including to several of Paul's creditors, it raised questions about the breadth of his investigation. A staff attorney in Paxton's office said Cammack lacked the authority to issue subpoenas and a judge later quashed them.
His selection by Paxton has remained unexplained, although media reports have noted that Cammack and Wynne appear to know each other.
Wynne also wrote that other interventions by the Office of the Attorney General into Paul's business did not help the investor.
“The contention that the OAG intervention somehow benefitted my client is preposterous,” he wrote. “The OAG intervention was nonproductive and only served to create confusion, frustrate any resolution, and add to false media reporting about these events.”