Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fired
The Texas House of Representatives has voted 121-23 to impeach Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The vote means Paxton is suspended from office as the matter moves to the Senate, where a two-thirds vote is needed to convict Paxton, which would permanently remove him from the attorney general’s office and bar him from holding a future elected office in Texas.
The vote to approve the 20 articles of impeachment (including bribery, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice) comes after testimony earlier this week from investigators appointed by the General Investigative Committee of the Chamber after Paxton pushed for the state to pay $3.3 million to settle a lawsuit. filed by whistleblowers who claim Paxton fired them in retaliation after they went to the U.S. Department of Justice in 2020 with concerns about Paxton’s possible abuse of public office.
Investigators told the committee during a May 24 public hearing that Paxton had likely violated the law and that the deal was an attempt to avoid having to testify during a trial and turn over certain evidence. The committee then voted to recommend that the House impeach the attorney general. Today’s vote followed a four-hour impeachment hearing.
Paxton’s supporters today denounced the impeachment as political evidence based on a witch hunt over Paxton, who, by the way, has been indicted federally on two counts of securities fraud during his eight-plus years as prosecutor. general
Those who voted for impeachment, however, said it was their duty to hold Paxton accountable for what they called “a pattern of years of misconduct and questionable actions,” according to The Texas Tribune, which today quotes the member of the General House Investigative Committee, David Spiller. , a Republican state representative, said: “Today is a very sad and difficult day for this House and for the state of Texas. We have a duty and an obligation to protect the citizens of Texas from our elected officials that they abuse their position and powers for personal gain. As a body, we must not be complicit in allowing this behaviour.”
—Tammy Nash
