A prominent Texas real estate developer, who played a significant role in the impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton, has entered a plea of not guilty in federal court, Your Content has learned.
The charges against Nate Paul involve allegations of providing false information to banks that granted him loans exceeding $170 million.
In a recent development, Paul chose to forgo his scheduled arraignment before a U.S. district judge in Austin, as per court documents released on Friday.
The businessman’s involvement has been intertwined with the 20 articles of impeachment brought against Paxton, who faces accusations of power abuse and bribery related to his connection with Paul.
The latter had previously contributed a campaign donation of $25,000 to Paxton’s Republican campaign in 2018.
Although Paul’s indictment does not explicitly mention Paxton, it does accuse the developer of making false statements to multiple banks during the years 2017 and 2018.
Notably, one of these banks received a subpoena in person from an attorney hired by Paxton as an “outside independent prosecutor,” following complaints lodged by Paul subsequent to an FBI raid on his offices, according to U.S. News.