CNN
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Just days after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused the speaker of the state House of presiding while drunk and called for his resignation, a GOP-led House ethics panel heard explosive testimony from investigators detailing what they described as years of misconduct by the lawyer. general, later recommending his dismissal.
The week’s events marked an eruption of simmering tensions between two of the top Republicans in the most populous red state.
The remarkable outburst of public acrimony has been years in the making. Paxton, a more conservative figure who aligned himself with former President Donald Trump and used his position to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election, has long argued that House leadership is too liberal.
His attacks on state House Speaker Dade Phelan are a vivid window into a political environment where Republicans control all levers of state government but are divided into multiple factions vying for power and influence.
Paxton on Tuesday posted on Twitter a letter to the state House General Investigative Committee, the chamber’s ethics panel, calling for an investigation into Phelan for performing his duties in what Paxton described as “an obviously intoxicated state.”
Paxton’s call for Phelan’s resignation came after video circulated on social media over the weekend in which Phelan appeared to slur his words while presiding over the House floor at the end of Friday night’s session. .
Paxton presented no evidence beyond the video clips to support his claim that Phelan was drunk.
“It is with deep disappointment that I am calling on Speaker Dade Phelan to resign at the end of this legislative session,” Paxton told a statement posted on his Twitter account. “Texans were dismayed to witness his performance presiding over the Texas House in a state of apparent debilitating intoxication.”
Less than an hour later, the state House General Investigative Committee, a panel that investigates corruption in state government and has the power to initiate impeachment proceedings, revealed that it had subpoenaed the records of Paxton’s office as part of an investigation Phelan’s office said began in March.
The five-person committee voted unanimously Thursday to recommend Paxton be fired. It was not immediately clear when the full State would consider it.
CNN has reached out to the attorney general’s office for comment on the recommendation.
Paxton previously said in a statement posted on Twitter: “It’s no surprise that a committee appointed by liberal Speaker Dade Phelan is trying to disenfranchise the voters of Texas and sabotage my work as Attorney General.”
“The perjury of highly partisan Democratic attorneys in order to manipulate and deceive the public is reprehensible. All allegations are easily refuted and I look forward to continuing my fight for conservative Texas values,” he continued.
Phelan’s office said Paxton’s allegation was just retaliation for the House ethics panel’s investigation.
“Mr. Paxton’s statement today amounts to little more than a last-ditch effort to save face,” Phelan communications director Cait Wittman said in a statement Tuesday.
Democratic state Rep. Terry Canales said the larger context of Friday’s all-day session made it clear that Phelan was “not under the influence.”
“At that point in the night, the House had been in session for more than 13 hours and we had been doing so for several days in a row. We were all exhausted,” Canales said in a statement. “However, I had multiple interactions with the speaker throughout the day and that night and I can say unequivocally that he was not under the influence.”
The acrimony between Phelan and Paxton underscores personal and ideological tensions within the GOP as the party approaches the 2024 presidential primary.
Phelan has it too faced in recent months with another more conservative Republican official, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, on property tax relief, school choice and other key issues.
The state House hearing is the latest in a series of legal problems for Paxton. CNN previously reported that he was facing an FBI investigation for abuse of office, and that prosecutors at the Washington, D.C., Department of Justice were taking over the corruption probe. He is also charged with securities fraud in a separate, unrelated case. Paxton has denied all charges and allegations.
On Wednesday, a team of lawyers working with the House ethics panel spent three hours laying out the details of years of misconduct allegations against Paxton.
The investigation began in March after Paxton tried to use $3.3 million from the state to settle a whistleblower lawsuit after four former employees of the attorney general’s office accused him of using his authority to benefit the friend politician Nate Paul, a real estate investor who had donated dozens. of thousands of dollars to Paxton’s campaign. In the settlement, Paxton apologized but did not admit fault or accept responsibility. He denied wrongdoing and said in a statement that he had accepted the settlement “to end this matter.”
As the hearing took place on Wednesday, the Texas Tribune reported that Paxton called into Dallas radio host Mark Davis’ show and criticized the investigation.
This story has been updated with additional news.
