HOUSTON — The upcoming impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is shaping up to be the Texas politics version of the WWE.
In one corner, we have legendary legal giants Rusty Hardin and Dick DeGuerin tag-teaming for the state. They promise to prove the state's top cop is a crook.
“For seven years his conduct in all kinds of ways, it’s not a single incident or two or three as I’ve said, it’s a whole pattern of conduct that is just a cancer on the justice system in Texas,” Hardin said about the case.
“The evidence is as strong as horseradish. Rusty is right about that. It’s worse than the public knows,” DeGuerin added.
Hardin and DeGuerin will go toe-to-toe against the flashy and brashy Tony Buzbee who is representing Paxton. He called the case "bologna."
“Ken Paxton will never be convicted by the Senate,” Buzbee said. “Not on this evidence. Not with this record. The fact is, these allegations are completely untrue.”
Paxton, who was overwhelmingly reelected last November, faces 20 articles of impeachment for abuse of office, fraud and bribery.
The most talked about charge is Article 9, which alleges Paxton's mistress was hired by Paxton donor Nate Paul in exchange for favorable legal assistance from the attorney general's office. The Austin developer was recently arrested on federal charges alleging multiple financial crimes.
The trial promises to be one of the most significant legal dramas in Texas history but these prominent Houston attorneys have never shied away from the limelight.
Here's a look back at some of the well-known cases they've been involved in through the years.
Dick DeGuerin
DeGuerin's strangest client might have been New York real estate heir Robert Durst, who admitted he killed his Galveston neighbor in 2001, cut up his body and threw it in Galveston Bay. Thanks to DeGuerin, Durst was acquitted.
That wasn't the case when he represented Durst again in his 2021 California murder trial where he was convicted of killing his friend Susan Berman in 2000.
DeGuerin also defended high school football coach David Temple during his first murder trial for the death of his wife Belinda in their Katy home. He lost that case and wasn't involved in Temple's recent retrial.
DeGuerin also made national headlines way back in 1993 when he went inside the Branch Davidian compound to talk with client David Koresh during a 51-day siege with the feds. The siege ended with a fire that killed Koresh and nearly 80 followers.
Sugar Land Congressman Tom Delay hired DeGuerin when he faced campaign finance charges and so did former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison when she was accused of abusing her office while state treasurer. Both were acquitted.
In an interview with KHOU 11 anchor Len Cannon, DeGuerin said they will call Paxton's alleged mistress to testify during his impeachment trial.
Rusty Hardin
When former stripper and Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith sued to get part of her 89-year-old billionaire husband's estate, J. Howard Marshall's family hired Hardin.
During the trial, he famously asked Smith if she'd been taking acting lessons.
"Screw you, Rusty," she shot back from the witness stand.
Hardin also defended a long list of famous athletes, including Roger Clemens, Adrian Peterson, Vince Young, Steve Francis and Warren Moon on a wide range of charges.
He most recently made headlines as the defense attorney for former Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson on sexual misconduct charges. Two grand juries declined to indict Watson. The current Cleveland Browns QB settled all but one of the 25 lawsuits filed by his accusers.
Tony Buzbee
Those massage therapists who sued Watson were represented by none other than Tony Buzbee.
In 2021, Buzbee filed a $750 million lawsuit against rapper Travis Scott on behalf of 120 victims who died or were injured during a crowd crush at the Astroworld music festival.
And the Paxton case won't be his first political scandal.
In 2015, Buzbee represented former Texas Governor Rick Perry on abuse-of-power charges. The case was later thrown out by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
He's also been a magnet for media attention outside the courtroom.
Buzbee ran for Houston Mayor against Sylvester Turner in 2019 but lost by 14 percentage points. He also once enraged his River Oaks neighbors by parking a World War II-era Sherman tank outside his mansion.
That mansion was back in the news when Buzbee said a "drunken" woman he took on a date destroyed two original Andy Warhol pieces and other artwork.
In 2019, Buzbee said he chased a robber out of his home and shot at him but the gun misfired.
Buzbee collects exotic cars and expensive artwork, and hosts multi-million-dollar parties in his 12,000+ square-foot home, currently on the market for $20M.
He's unapologetic when it comes to flaunting his extravagant lifestyle and he didn't hesitate to take a dig at his opponents in the Paxton case.
“These lawyers made their bones by successfully representing some of the most notorious and famous alleged wrongdoers in Texas,” Buzbee said. “I’ve never been called upon to represent somebody who allegedly killed someone, cut up their body and threw it in the Galveston Bay. But I have spent my career representing victims, representing states and, in some cases, federal governments on serious matters.”
Buzbee also pushed back against all the focus on the larger-than-life legal personalities involved in Paxton's impeachment.
“This isn’t a basketball game,” he said. “This isn’t sport. This is serious.”
There's no trial date yet but it has to start before Aug. 28.
Stay tuned.
