The Texas House of Representatives will vote on the impeachment of Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton

The Republican-led Texas House of Representatives began debate Saturday afternoon over whether to impeach the state’s Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, after a long series of scandals and possible misdemeanors.

The legislators presented 20 articles of impeachment against the three-term attorney general, whose antics have roiled the Texas Republican Party. A vote is expected later on Saturday.

A yes vote would mean Paxton would be suspended as the state’s top law enforcement officer pending the outcome of a Texas Senate trial, and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) would have the option of appointing an acting attorney general.

However, the timing of a trial would be uncertain, given that the current Texas legislative session ends Monday.

Earlier this week, a Republican-led investigative committee detailed the various ways Paxton is accused of abusing the power of his office through bribery, retaliation and a culture of fear.

The committee recommended Wednesday that Paxton be indicted in a hearing that drew an outraged response from the attorney general, who indicted Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan. to be a “liberal” that he was drunk at work.

Phelan’s office he told local outlet KDFW that the attorney general was just trying to “save face.”

Meanwhile, Texas Republican Party The president, Matt Rinaldi, sided with Paxton in impeachment and defendant phelan of trying to “stop the conservative run of our state” by working with democrats.

Paxton has been a staunch ally of the former president donald trump and called himself a conservative culture warrior. He has proven popular with Texas voters. Trump himself threatened state legislators if the vote goes against his ally, writing on social media, “I’ll fight you if he does.”

Paxton is accused of using his office to help a political donor, Austin-based real estate developer Nate Paul, navigate legal entanglements in exchange for a home remodel for Paxton and a job for a woman Paxton was with. supposedly had an affair.

In 2020, a group of Paxton’s top aides accused the attorney general of abusing his power. Weeks later, several of them were fired. The whistleblowers quickly sued Paxton, and that case reached a $3.3 million settlement in February. However, there is tension over how the money will be paid out; Phelan and other legislators are against the use of taxpayer funds to cover up Paxton’s misconduct.

That’s not even the extent of Paxton’s legal problems. In 2015, he was charged with felony securities fraud in a case that is still ongoing eight years later. due to continuing procedural delays.

Last spring, he was slapped with a lawsuit for professional misconduct of the State Bar of Texas for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election with alleged evidence of voter fraud. Paxton retaliated by banning her employees from speaking at any events hosted by the state bar association. according to the Texas Tribune.

In September, he ran out of his house and got into a truck driven by his wife. to avoid being served with a subpoena to testify in a lawsuit related to one of Texas’ harsh anti-abortion laws.