Texas House of Representatives votes to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton

[SteveG]

Texas House of Representatives votes to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton

The Texas House of Representatives has voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, an unprecedented move following a legislative probe that faulted the third-term Republican for a yearslong pattern of corruption, including abusing his office’s powers, retaliating against whistleblowers and obstructing justice.

Under state law, Paxton is now temporarily suspended from his duties as attorney general and will await a Senate trial.

The vote was 121-23, with two members voting “present.”

“The evidence is substantial. It is alarming and unnerving,” said GOP Rep. Andrew Murr, chair of the General Investigating Committee, during his closing statement following hours of debate. The committee recommended 20 counts of impeachment against Paxton.

[Ted King]

Do I see a glimmer of integrity from Texas Republicans? Good for them.

[Ombligo]

Any reports on how the Senate is leaning?

21 votes are needed to convict, so that would be all the Democrats plus nine Republicans.

[AllGold]

Isn't the Texas legislature a Republican super majority (or at least a near one)?

The House vote to impeach was overwhelming so I doubt the Senate vote will fail to convict.

It's about freaking time for Paxton to meet justice.

BTW, I heard reports of Paxton threatening legislators over the vote. He might end up facing federal charges for that.

[Speedy]

I never thought the Repugs would pull it off. I was positive that enough of them would delay it long enough that the legislature would have to adjourn. There must be a heck of a backstory to manage to get that large of a majority to vot to impeach.

[pdq]

AllGold wrote:

The House vote to impeach was overwhelming so I doubt the Senate vote will fail to convict.

I’m not so sure. This is Texas, and R’s are tossing one of their own. At least up until recently, Paxton was supported (indeed, celebrated!) by Abbott, the governor, and by the head of the Texas GOP. (I thought it was funny that the factor which finally got the ball rolling was not the various misdeeds of the AG, which happened before, but when he settled a lawsuit with four of those whistleblowers whom he fired, and sent the $3+M settlement bill to the legislature to pay.)

Paxton is following the Trump handbook to a T, though. He calls the impeachment “illegal, unethical, and profoundly unjust”, as if the impeachment procedure they followed is something the legislature just made up out of thin air. He also blamed the whole thing on “Democrats and RINOs”.

Uh-huh.

Good riddance to bad rubbish. Props to the Republicans who finally got tired of this guy’s schtick.

[pdq]

PS- Trump weighs in on the impeachment of an elected official for bribery, abuse of his office in pursuance of his extramarital affair, and retaliatory firing of governmental officials and employees who opposed these things:

“What is our Country coming to?”

miley-laughing001:

PS- That (Canadian-born) American Super-Patriot, Ted Cruz, is also agin it, calling it a “travesty”, and saying it should have gone through the judicial system (like Paxton’s now-8-year-delayed trial on securities fraud charges).