Paxton Attorney Blames Biased Media
for Face Enflamed in Orange in Visuals
Capitol Inside
September 7, 2023
Defense lawyer Tony Buzbee stole the show during the first two days of Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment trial with dazzling oratory and piercing cross-examinations that characterized his client as the victim of lying fellow Republicans in an elaborate scheme designed to smear his client and take him down.
But Buzbee blew the whistle.himself on a new conspiracy when he accused the mainstream media of chicanery in the Photoshopping of his face to make him look like a poster child for Sunkist than a serious legal practioneer who really isn't as tanned as he's appeared to be this week. Buzbee expressed his grievances in an Instagram post that featured a blurry picture that shows huddling with Paxton on floor of a makeshift Texas Senate impeachment court.
"Here are two pics from two different reputable news organizations, taken on the same day, within minutes of the other," Buzbee wrote. "I am out in the sun a lot, but I don’t think my skin has ever been that “tan.” Why would they doctor my pic? I’m sure you could take a guess. So you think the news isn’t bias? Think again."
Buzbee - in a potential coincidence unrelated to skin hues and sunlight exposure - removed himself the spotlight temporarily on Thursday when he took a seat on the end of the back row at the tables where a dozen defense lawyers have been rotating during the first the tribunal's first three days.
Buzbee leveled the accusations at the media companies that he chose not to identify after Paxton likened his predictament to the struggles that Davy Crockett encountered and conquered as a frontiersman who was ousted from Congress by the voters in Tennessee before he made the long trip to Texas to fight and die for freedom.
But the suspended attorney general's portrait of himself as a contemporary version of the most famous Alamo hero is arguably more believable than Buzbee's attempt to discredit the media with a line of reasoning that revolves on the color of his face. Buzbee in fairness could have composed the social media shocker for the sake of self-depricating humor after a glimpse of himself on TV or live stream.
If Buzbee wasn't joshing with some dry wit for comic relief, he may be all the more bummed if he learns that he looked more like someone who would glow in the dark on the Texas Senate television channel than he did in the still photos that piqued his wrath.
Buzbee probably should take his beef to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who's seen the lawyer's face in person a lot this week as the impeachment judge, if he's serious about a bid to sway senators who are doubling as jurors with crayons on digital painting sites. The bucks stop with Patrick for everything that happens in the Legislature's upper chamber as the Senate president.
Buzbee appeared freakishly tan in the impeachment proceedings that were aired live on the Senate station on Tuesday and Wednesday. Buzbee's forehead looked like it could erupt in flames at any minute. The upper half of the lawyer's face was almost blinding at times on the Texas Senate channel that's accessible on Spectrum for cable subscribers.
Buzbee demonstrated with inquisitions that he conducted with a pair of whistleblowers why he's a superstar in his profession. But the irradiated face was a distraction to some degree - and it prompted speculation on a spray tan gone overboard. People in and out of the media agreed that Buzbee was in the same league of bronze Adonis as Donald Trump.
The two most veteran journalists who watched Buzbee from the gallery and later on the Senate TV wondered at first if the lighting in a chamber with an aversion to modern technology could be making him appear darker than he really is. But all of the Paxton defense attorneys who were seated behind Buzbee had faces that were white as ghosts compared to his.
Buzbee could have painted his face orange for the purpose of a classic analogy to show how the media was using every trick in the book to ensure that Paxton could not receive a fair trial. Richard "Racehorse" Haynes nailed his hand to the defense table at least once in a trial involving members of a biker gang who were clients.
Buzbee launched a new business a week before the trial with seltzer drinks that are infused with THC from the cannabis plant. He kicked off a Houston City Council campaign the week before that. But he's shown no apparent interest in sales of tanning products that are time-released. The smart bet may be that he stayed outside on Labor Day longer than he remembered and didn't take the time for a glance in the mirror out of fear of being late for court on the first day. |
