The lead attorney for suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton said his client will not testify in his upcoming impeachment trial in the Texas Senate.

Paxton’s defense lawyer, Tony Buzbee, made the announcement in a late Monday night statement on the eve of the July Fourth holiday. The Senate could still try to force Paxton to testify, but the statement makes clear Paxton would fight such efforts.

“We will not bow to their evil, illegal, and unprecedented weaponization of state power in the Senate chamber,” Buzbee said of the House. A spokesperson for the chamber did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the defense team’s statement......

Whether Paxton would testify in the trial has long been a source of speculation given his ongoing legal battles — and the potential he could provide information to the Senate that complicates those cases. He has been indicted on securities fraud charges since 2015, and the FBI began investigating the claims by whistleblowers in his office after they came forward in 2020.....

“After the House impeachment vote, Paxton claimed he wants a ‘full accounting of the truth,’” Brickman said in a statement at the time. “This begs the question: Will Ken Paxton agree to testify on his own behalf? Or will Ken Paxton continue to be a coward and hide behind his lawyers and their bogus ‘process’ arguments?”