The Impeachment of the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) will begin no later than August 28, lawmakers said Monday, kicking off the first such procedure in nearly half a century.
Texas Republican-led House voted to impeach Paxton on Saturday after a state ethics panel recommended that he be removed from office after a long investigation for abuse of power. The move came after researchers filed a list of alleged misdeedsincluding bribery, retaliation against employees, and misuse of your position to assist a political ally.
A committee of seven state senators will meet next month to adopt a list of rules for impeachment proceedings. A dozen state House lawmakers will argue to their colleagues that Paxton abused his position.
It is unclear if Paxton’s wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton (R), will recuse herself from the process.
“We will handle this process with the weight and reverence it deserves and requires,” said State Rep. Andrew Murr (R), chairman of the House inquiry, said reporters on Monday. He did not comment on whether Paxton’s wife would participate in the trial.
STEFANI REYNOLDS via Getty Images
Paxton, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, has criticized the effort as a political attack and denied any wrongdoing, vowing to vehemently defend himself during the impeachment trial. It is not clear who will represent him.
“The ugly spectacle in the Texas House of Representatives today confirmed that the scandalous impeachment plot against me was never intended to be fair or equitable,” he said in a statement Saturday. “It was a politically motivated farce from the beginning.”
Paxton has been suspended from his official duties while the trial progresses. His top deputy, Brent Webster, currently runs his office in the interim, though Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) will be required to name a more formal temporary replacement.
It’s a monumental episode in Texas politics and a moment of reckoning for the state’s Republican majority. Only two other officials have been charged and removed from their positions in state history, and the last was nearly 50 years ago, according to The Dallas Morning News.
The investigation into Paxton’s behavior began in March after the attorney general reached a $3.3 million settlement with former employees suing him, saying they were fired in retaliation after accusing him of crimes. Paxton asked the Texas Legislature to fund the settlement, but lawmakers rejected the request, saying there was insufficient explanation for why the state should foot the bill.
Paxton has attacked Phelan, the Republican speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, in recent days, accusing him of being drunk during a session last week.
