AUSTIN, Texas — Attorneys for Nate Paul, the Austin-based real estate developer who was a key figure during Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment trial, have requested to move his pending trial on federal wire fraud charges to January 2025.
Editor's note: The above video is from June 2023.
According to court documents, the lawyers filed a motion for continuance on Wednesday, arguing that the original July 2024 date didn't provide enough time to analyze more than 4 million documents associated with the case. Attorneys also claimed in the motion that they still needed to review over 700 bank accounts used by FBI investigators, as well as several other bank-related materials and information on the grand jury.
Paul's attorneys also cited a handful of new charges handed to Paul in November, arguing that the new charges added new complexities to the case.
Paul was a central figure throughout the impeachment case and subsequent September 2023 trial against Paxton. A whistleblower lawsuit filed in 2020 alleged that Paxton had helped Paul gain access to investigative documents that were related to a 2019 FBI search of Paul’s business and home. Paxton was ultimately acquitted in his impeachment trial.
Paul was initially indicted on eight federal wire fraud charges in June 2023. The indictment did not link Paul and Paxton directly but claimed that the attorney general took numerous steps to help Paul. Paul allegedly reciprocated by doing Paxton multiple favors, including hiring his mistress.
Paul's trial was initially slated to begin on Aug. 14, 2023, but a federal judge agreed in July 2023 to push the start of the trial back to July 2024.
Paul pleaded not guilty to all charges he's facing.