Texas House members began historic impeachment proceedings on Saturday, calling into question the fate of conservative Attorney General Ken Paxton after a Republican-led investigation revealed troubling findings earlier this week.
Paxton has been accused of bribery, abuse of public trust and other crimes — allegations which have trailed him for most of his three terms in office, but which he’s largely managed to avoid until now.
Paxton, 60, faces the possibility of becoming just the third Texas official in the state’s almost 200-year history to be impeached.
“He put the interest of himself above the laws of the state of Texas,” said Rep. David Spiller (R) during Saturday’s proceedings, according to KHOU reporter Janelle Bludau.
House members are preparing to vote once on all 20 articles of impeachment that Paxton faces.
Some of the articles center around alleged attempts to interfere in foreclosure lawsuits, as well as the corrupt issuing of legal opinions to aid a real estate developer who was a friend and campaign donor of Paxton’s.
Other allegations highlight Paxton’s firing, harassment and interference of whistleblowers from his staff, who brought some of the crimes to light.
On Saturday, Rep. Charlie Geren (R) said Paxton had called members of the House, “threatening them with political consequences” if they voted for his impeachment.
Meanwhile, Paxton, one of the GOP’s key legal advocates, has referred to the proceedings as “political theater” stemming from “hearsay and gossip, parroting long-disproven claims.”
He’s received support from former President Donald Trump, who posted “Free Ken Paxton,” on Truth Social, in addition to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who called the impeachment process “a travesty” and said the decision should be left to the courts.
As the meeting continued Saturday, some members called for swift action to remove Paxton, while others preached patience and further deliberation.
“We now come to a fork in the road,” said Rep. Ann Johnson (D). “Either this is going to be the beginning of the end of [Paxton’s] criminal reign or God help us with the harms that come to all Texans if he is allowed to stay the top cop.”
“We can come back and do this the right way,” argued Rep. John Smithee (D), who stood against the current impeachment process.
Smithee called for members to vote no so they could approach the impeachment process “the right way,” by subpoenaing documents and getting witness testimony sworn under oath.