Editor’s note: This week, the Texas House of Representatives’ Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations has heard public testimony concerning UT System Regent Wallace Hall’s conduct vis-a-vis UT-Austin. Beginning in the fall of 2012, Hall overwhelmed UT officials with open records requests for over 120,000 documents, leading many at UT and in the state legislature to allege that he was on a “witch hunt,” with the goal of creating sufficient grounds for the dismissal of UT-Austin President William Powers Jr. The Committee will attempt to determine whether, as his opponents have argued, Hall should be impeached and removed from office. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the Committee heard from several witnesses, including lawyers for Hall and the UT System, Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie — one of Hall’s most prominent critics — and former UT System General Counsel Barry Burgdorf, who resigned in 2013 after submitting a report on unfairly favorable loans granted to UT law school faculty. Burgdorf claims he was encouraged to leave after several regents, Hall foremost among them, wanted his report to lay more blame at Powers’ feet. What follows are some of the hearings’ highlights.

“It’s the first real hearing, but we don’t have a clue what’s going on … It’s kind of like they’re throwing an impeachment, but we’re not really invited.”

-Allan Van Fleet, lawyer for UT regent Wallace Hall on Monday

“It will be a step toward public disclosure as to what happened and description from live witnesses, as opposed to people announcing their own side of the issue … The committee’s name is ‘transparency,’ and I think the public will get a chance to look and see what happened and judge for themselves, as will the committee.”

-Committee special counsel Rusty Hardin

“In my opinion Mr. Hall has gone on a fishing expedition in hopes of finding something, anything with which he can use to oust President Powers. If he was truly trying to measure compliance, why would he only target one institution out of the fifteen in the University of Texas System?”

-Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, on Tuesday

“Are regents above the law? Transparency in government does not trump the privacy of those involved.”

-Pitts on Tuesday

“We do not have to show Mr. Hall broke the law, we only have to show misconduct and abuse of power.”

-Pitts on Tuesday

“I do believe that there is enough evidence to show that Mr. Hall should not be allowed to continue in his current capacity as a regent.”

-Pitts on Tuesday

“The chancellor [Francisco Cigarroa] met with me and told me that Regent Hall was unhappy with me and the regents aligned with him were unhappy, they were going to make my life difficult.”

-Former UT System general counsel Barry Burgdorf on Wednesday