Ken Paxton was immediately removed from office Photo: Reuters
The Republican-led Texas House of Representatives impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton in Saturday on articles including bribery and breach of public trust, a historic rebuke to a Republican Party official who, despite years of scandal, has become a star in the conservative legal movement.
Impeachment triggers Mr. Paxton's immediate removal from office pending the outcome of a State Senate trial and giving Republican Gov. Greg Abbott the right to temporarily appoint someone else as Texas' top lawyer.
The 121-23 vote represents a sharp fall from one of the Republican Party's most notorious legal fighters, who in 2020 asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn President Joe Biden's electoral victory over Donald Trump. This makes Mr. Paxton only the third sitting official in nearly 200 years of Texas history to be impeached.
Mr. Paxton, 60, denounced the move immediately after scores of his supporters voted to impeach him, and his office pointed to internal reports that found no wrongdoing.
«An ugly sight in Texas today house confirmed that the outrageous impeachment plan against me was never supposed to be fair or just,” he said. "It was a politically motivated scam from the very beginning.
Mr. Paxton has been under investigation by the FBI for years in connection with allegations that he used his office to help a donor and has been separately charged with securities fraud. in 2015, although he has yet to face trial. His party has long held a low profile on the charges, but that changed this week when 60 of 85 House Republicans, including Speaker Dade Phelan, voted to impeach him.
«No one should be above the law, at least not the highest law enforcement officer in the state of Texas,» said Rep. David Spiller, a Republican who investigated Mr. Paxton, in his opening remarks. Another Republican committee member, Charlie Guerin, said, without elaborating, that Mr. Paxton called some lawmakers before the vote and threatened them with political «repercussions.»
Legislators, in alliance with Mr. Paxton, attempted to discredit the investigation by noting that the witnesses were interviewed by hired investigators, not commission members. They also said that several investigators voted in the Democratic primary, which prevented the impeachment, and that they had too little time to study the evidence.
«I believe it could be a political weapon,» said Rep. Tony Tinderholt. one of the most conservative members of the House of Representatives said before the vote. Rep. John Smithee, a Republican, likened the incident to «a Saturday afternoon lynch mob.»
Protesters in Texas on Saturday. Photo: AP
Mr. Paxton has been automatically suspended from office pending trial in the Senate. A permanent removal would require a two-thirds majority in the Senate, of which Mr. Paxton's wife, Angela, is a member. responded to a request for comment on the temporary replacement.
Before Saturday's vote, Mr. Trump and US Senator Ted Cruz defended Mr. Paxton, with the senator calling the impeachment trial a «travesty» and saying the attorney general's legal issues should be left to the courts.
«Free Ken Paxton,» Trump wrote on his Truth Social, warning that if Republicans in the House of Representatives continue the impeachment process, «I will fight you.»
In a sense, the political danger came at breakneck speed: on Tuesday, the House committee's investigation became public, and by Thursday, lawmakers had published articles of impeachment.
But Mr. Paxton's detractors came too late to rebuke.
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In 2014, he admitted to violating Texas securities law, and a year later, he was indicted for securities fraud in his hometown near Dallas, accused of fraud. investors in a technology startup. He pleaded not guilty to two counts of felony charges that carry sentences ranging from five to 99 years.
He opened a legal defense fund and received $100,000 from an executive whose company was under a consequence of Mr. Paxton's office for Medicaid fraud. Another $50,000 was donated by an Arizona retiree whose son, Mr. Paxton, was later hired to a high-profile position but was soon fired for displaying child pornography at the meeting.
In 2020, Mr. Paxton intervened in a Colorado mountain community where a Texan donor and college classmate was threatened with eviction from his lakeside home on a coronavirus order.
But what ultimately sparked the impeachment was Mr. Paxton's relationship with Austin real estate developer Nate Paul.
In 2020, eight senior aides told the FBI that they were concerned that Mr. Paxton was abusing his office to help Mr. Paul over unsubstantiated allegations by a property developer that there was an elaborate conspiracy to steal his property for 200 million dollars. The FBI raided Mr. Paul's home in 2019, but he has not been charged and denies wrongdoing. Mr. Paxton also told staff that he was having an affair with a woman who was later revealed to be working for Mr. Paul. foreclosure and legal opinions in favor of Mr. Paul. Paul. His bribery charges allege that Mr. Paul hired the woman Mr. Paxton was having an affair with in exchange for legal assistance and that he paid for costly repairs to the Attorney General's home.
Senior Lawyer's Office Mr. Paxton, Chris Hilton, said on Friday that the Attorney General paid for all repairs and refurbishment.
Other allegations, including lying to investigators, trace back to Mr. Paxton's still-pending fraud charge with securities.
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