AUSTIN — The names of witnesses for Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial must be submitted to the Texas Senate by Tuesday, but the public won’t know who they are until they’re called to testify.

Such witness lists are not public, according to trial rules drawn up by the senators. However, former agency staffers, a woman alleged to have had an affair with Paxton and a recently indicted campaign donor are among several likely candidates as all were named in recent legal filings submitted by Paxton’s defense team and the lawyers who will present the case against the attorney general.

The Dallas Morning News has identified 13 people who may testify in Paxton’s upcoming trial that begins Sept. 5. These individuals are named in the articles of impeachment, evidence filed by House impeachment lawyers and other documents as potential key witnesses.

The Texas House voted overwhelmingly to approve 20 articles of impeachment against the attorney general in May. Most of the articles accuse Paxton, a Republican who was re-elected to a third term in November, of misusing his power to help a campaign donor.

He has denied all wrongdoing. In his defense, Paxton’s lawyers have argued the alleged acts were either within Paxton’s authority as attorney general or are not serious enough to warrant impeachment. A group of House lawmakers and outside attorneys, known collectively as the House impeachment managers, will present the case against Paxton.

State senators, sitting as the jury, will vote on whether Paxton should be removed from office. The last impeachment trial of a statewide elected official in Texas since 1917.

Paxton is suspended from his official duties without pay pending the trial’s completion.

The whistleblowers who reported Paxton to the FBI

Eight former Paxton employees are at the center of the impeachment case.

In late 2020, they reported their then-boss to the FBI for allegedly abusing his office to help Austin real estate developer and campaign donor Nate Paul. In exchange, the employees said Paul paid for Paxton’s home remodel and gave a job to a woman with whom the attorney general allegedly had an affair.

All the employees resigned or were laid off.

Four sued the attorney general’s office under state whistleblower laws, alleging Paxton retaliated against them. The parties reached a settlement earlier this year, in which the whistleblowers would receive $3.3 million and an apology. State lawmakers refused to fund the settlement. Instead, a House ethics committee launched an investigation into Paxton that ultimately resulted in his impeachment.

The four ex-employees who sued are deputy attorneys general James “Blake” Brickman, J. Mark Penley and Ryan Vassar as well as David Maxwell, the agency’s director of law enforcement.

Maxwell, a former Texas Ranger, worked for the Department of Public Safety for nearly four decades before joining the Office of the Attorney General under Greg Abbott’s tenure in 2010. Vassar clerked for then-Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Don Willett, now a federal appeals court judge, before Paxton hired him in 2015.

In 2019, Paxton hired Penley, who had worked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Dallas for 16 years. Brickman joined the agency in February 2020 after serving as chief of staff to Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican.

The employees who did not join the whistleblower lawsuit are:

Jeff Mateer, Paxton’s former second-in-command, who now works for the influential conservative nonprofit the First Liberty Institute as its chief legal officer. He previously worked at the nonprofit as a general counsel for six years before joining the office of the attorney general;

Ryan Bangert, a former deputy first assistant attorney general under Paxton, who is now vice president for the conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom;

Darren McCarty, the former deputy attorney general for civil litigation who now runs his legal firm McCarty Law in Austin;

and Lacey Mase, former deputy attorney general for administration under Paxton who now serves as the chief deputy attorney general in Tennessee.

Austin real estate developer Nate Paul

No figure is perhaps more central to Paxton’s impeachment trial than Nate Paul, a federally indicted Austin real estate developer.

Paul had rapidly acquired an untold amount of property across Texas in 2019. But his burgeoning real estate empire, World Class, began showing cracks leading up to 2020 as it became mired in lawsuits over deals that fell apart and lost numerous high-profile properties to foreclosure.

Then, in September 2019, FBI and state police raided his home and business.

Paxton is accused of providing Paul with political favors that included having his office intervene in a lawsuit involving Paul’s real estate company; issuing a legal opinion that staved off a foreclosure sale of as many as 13 of Paul’s properties; and improperly using the office to investigate the federal raid of Paul’s home and business.

In exchange, the whistleblowers accuse Paul of paying for a remodel of Paxton’s Austin home and providing a job to Laura Olson, who allegedly had an affair with Paxton.

In a filing laying out their case against Paxton, the House managers say Paul even created an Uber account for Paxton under the pseudonym “Dave P” allowing him to secretly visit the woman.

Paul donated $25,000 to Paxton’s campaign in 2018.

In June, a federal grand jury indicted Paul on allegations that he made false statements to lenders to secure loans for his business. Paul is not scheduled to face trial until July 2024; he has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Paul’s attorney declined to comment on the charges against Paul earlier this month.

Houston lawyer Brandon Cammack

Over the advice of the whistleblowers, Paxton hired an outside attorney to probe Paul’s allegations that federal and state law enforcement officers violated his rights during the 2019 raid on his home and office.

Paxton chose Brandon Cammack, a 34-year-old Houston attorney with no prosecutorial experience and ties to Paul’s lawyer Michael Wynne.

Describing himself as a special prosecutor acting on Paxton’s authority, Cammack issued more than three dozen subpoenas to banks and individuals linked to Paul’s business and legal troubles. A judge quashed the subpoenas after Penley, one of the whistleblowers, argued that the agency had not authorized Cammack to do so.

In an interview in October 2020, Cammack told The News he never spoke with Paxton before being approached in August of that year for the special job. Cammack said he agreed because it was “an opportunity for me to do something different in my career.”

Paxton’s agency defended the decision to bring on an outside lawyer in a public statement at the time, saying he hired Cammack because the whistleblowers impeded the investigation and “because the Attorney General knew Nate Paul.” Cammack billed the state $14,000 but was never paid.

Cammack is named in an article of impeachment that accuses Paxton of disregarding his official duty by hiring Cammack.

The woman accused of having an affair with Paxton

Paxton’s lawyers identified the woman with whom he is alleged to have had an affair as Laura Olson in a recent legal filing.

The whistleblowers allege Paul bribed Paxton in part by securing a job for the woman. In a 2020 deposition, Paul confirmed Olson was a project manager in charge of several redevelopment projects but denied employing her as a favor to Paxton.

A woman by this same name worked for Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, from 2013 to 2020, according to state employment records. Campbell, who will serve on Paxton’s impeachment jury, declined to comment about the apparent connection.

She is referenced in an article of impeachment as having knowledge of the bribe that Paul allegedly offered Paxton.

Paxton’s “body man” Drew Wicker

In 2020, Drew Wicker worked for the attorney general’s office as Paxton’s executive travel aide, or what’s colloquially called a “body man” because they closely assist their boss with most daily tasks.

Paxton had begun dodging his security detail provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety and deviating from his calendar, according to investigators from the House General Investigating Committee.

Despite this, Wicker remained at his side and accompanied Paxton to one of his Austin homes when he witnessed the attorney general indicate that Paul, the Austin real estate developer, was in charge of a floor-to-ceiling remodel of the home, according to House managers.

House managers said in a hearing on the investigation’s findings that Wicker was disturbed by the interaction and that when he questioned Paxton about Paul’s involvement with the attorney general, he did not receive a satisfactory answer.

Wicker reported the information to high-ranking staff who later took the information to the FBI. Shortly after, Wicker quit his jobs at the attorney general’s office and with Paxton’s political campaign.

Paxton offered him a promotion, and his campaign continued to pay Wicker over Wicker’s objections, according to House managers. Wicker later returned the money via a campaign donation after the payments ceased.

The Austin American-Statesman first reported Wicker was Paxton’s body man involved in the impeachment investigation.

Travis County prosecutor turned AG staffer Mindy Montford

Mindy Montford is a senior counsel at the state attorney general’s office in the cold case unit.

In 2020, she worked at the Travis County district attorney’s office where she was contacted by Paxton to review complaints from Paul about the raid on his business and home.

Montford attended a meeting between Paul, Paxton and other attorneys in which they spoke about Paul’s allegations that law enforcement violated his rights during the 2019 raid.

In an affidavit she submitted after she left the DA’s office, but before being hired by the Office of the Attorney General, Montford confirmed Paxton’s account that Travis County sought his office’s assistance in investigating Paul’s allegations against the FBI and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

However, Montford also appears to have cooperated with those who are prosecuting Paxton in the Senate trial. A House ethics committee subpoenaed her shortly after Paxton’s impeachment and a recent motion states that she sat for an interview with House managers on June 5.