During the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, former employees admitted that they reported Paxton to the FBI without any evidence and had no reason not to trust federal agents.
Ryan Vassar, a former deputy attorney general under Paxton, testified over the course of two days regarding his decision to report the AG to the FBI. He claimed that he and seven other so-called whistleblowers had a “good faith belief” that Paxton had committed criminal actions.
This meeting with the FBI in the Fall of 2020 eventually led to the majority of the impeachment articles, alleging that Paxton misused his office to benefit a specific individual who had, several years earlier, donated to one of Paxton’s campaigns.
During the cross-examination by Mitch Little, an attorney for Paxton, Vassar made the shocking revelation that he and the other employees had gone to the FBI without a shred of evidence.
“Mr. Vassar, please, I want to get this straight — you went to the FBI on September 30 with your compatriots, and reported the elected attorney general of this state for a crime without any evidence?” Little asked. “Yes?”
“That’s right,” Vassar admitted. “We took no evidence.”
He attempted to clarify, saying, “We had no evidence that we could point to, but we had reasonable conclusions we could draw.”
Little then asked if, after going to the FBI without any evidence, they later collected evidence that would corroborate their claims to the FBI.
“I don’t recall that we collected any evidence,” Vassar added, again retorting that he and his allies had gone to report a “good faith belief” of criminal activity.
Little retorted, “Respectfully sir, we are not here for your good faith belief.”
Attorney General Paxton, like many other notable conservatives in America, has been the subject of potential weaponization of the federal government — an institution he has successfully sued many times.
Even right now, as the impeachment trial continues, former President Donald Trump — who is by far the favorite for the GOP nomination — is currently being targeted by the apparatus of the federal government.
The weaponization of the FBI has had such an effect on the American public that 70 percent of people are concerned “about interference by the FBI and intelligence agencies in a future presidential election,” according to a Harvard-Harris poll earlier this year.
Nevertheless, Ryan Vassar had no mistrust of the FBI or the federal government at all.
“Do you trust the Feds? Do you trust the FBI?” Little asked during the cross-examination.
“Yes, I have no reason not to, I trust law enforcement and our peace officers,” the so-called whistleblower admitted.
“You can’t think of one reason in the last three or four years not to trust the FBI?” Little pressed.
The lawyer continued, “Ken Paxton told you he didn’t want to help the Feds in any way, didn’t he?”
“Yes sir,” Vassar said.
It is important to note that in the three years since the so-called whistleblowers went to the FBI with their “good faith belief” of criminal action from Paxton, the Bureau has never taken a single public action on the item.
Seemingly, “good faith” was simply not good enough.
Jonathan covers local politics for The Dallas Express and has a background in historical research. He graduated with a degree in Classics from Houston Christian University in 2017, having studied Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. After attaining a Master’s degree in History, Jonathan is currently a doctoral candidate at Liberty University.
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