Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, center, makes comments during a news conference. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Texas House committee recommends impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton

Misty Severi May 25, 07:37 PMMay 25, 07:37 PM Video Embed

A Texas House committee that has been investigating state Attorney General Ken Paxton’s multiple criminal charges and accusations of corruption recommended Paxton’s impeachment on Wednesday.

The Republican-led investigative committee voted unanimously to recommend impeachment for one of the GOP’s prominent legal warriors despite remaining unusually quiet about the allegations and investigation. The full impeachment vote could occur as early as Friday and needs a two-thirds majority to pass.

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The vote comes after four investigators gave their testimony to the General Investigating Committee during a hearing on Wednesday as part of the investigation into Paxton. The Texas attorney general has been accused of multiple crimes, including felonies such as abusing his office powers through bribery, improper influence, and creating a culture of fear and retaliation, according to the Associated Press. Paxton has denied all allegations.

“The false testimony of highly partisan Democrat lawyers with the goal of manipulation and misleading the public is reprehensible,” Paxton tweeted Wednesday. “Every allegation is easily disproved, and I look forward to continuing my fight for conservative Texas values.”

https://twitter.com/KenPaxtonTX/status/1661415070939611141

Eight officials for the attorney general accused Paxton in 2020 of abusing his position and doing political favors for his friend, real estate investor Nate Paul, who had donated $25,000 to Paxton’s campaign in 2018. Paxton agreed to apologize for the abuse of his position and a $3.3 million settlement, which he has yet to pay.

He is also the subject of multiple FBI investigations that center on allegations from his top deputies of misconduct to help a campaign worker who employed a woman he was allegedly having an affair with. The FBI took over the investigation this year from prosecutors with the United States Attorney General’s Office who had led the inquiry since October 2020.

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If Paxton is impeached, he would be one of three officials to be impeached in the state’s 200-year history. In Texas, if the state House of Representatives does impeach Paxton, then he would be removed from office immediately, but he would still face a trial in the state Senate.

The other two sitting officials who have been successfully impeached were Gov. James Ferguson in 1917 and state Judge O.P. Carrillo in 1975, according to the Associated Press.

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