In a surprising turn of events—given Republicans’ longtime commitment to protecting their own no matter what—a GOP-led committee in the Texas House voted Thursday to recommend that the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, be impeached. That vote was preceded by testimony from committee investigators who, one day prior, detailed the many ways Paxton had allegedly committed felonies in service to friend and donor Nate Paul, a Texas real estate developer in a legal battle with an Austin nonprofit group. And what did Paxton get in return, besides the satisfaction of allegedly abusing his office to help out a pal? According to the committee, a “floor-to-ceiling renovation” of his Austin home, as well as a construction manager job for a woman he was said to be having an affair with; investigators say Paxton fired several staffers after they reported his actions to authorities.
For all of this, the bipartisan Committee on General Investigating recommended 20 articles of impeachment against the attorney general, which included allegations of abuse of public trust, unfitness for office, and bribery. A spokesman for the panel said the Texas House is expected to vote soon on whether to impeach Paxton. And perhaps not surprisingly, Paxton is not taking any of this well.
In a statement issued on Thursday, he insisted that the committee’s investigation was “based on hearsay and gossip, parroting long-disproved claims.” He added: “It’s a sad day for Texas as we witness the corrupt political establishment unite in this illegitimate attempt to overthrow the will of the people and disenfranchise the voters of our state.” Which is a pretty funny claim to make in light of the fact that Paxton played a not-insignificant role in Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election; his effort included filing a lawsuit contesting the results of the election in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin and speaking at the January 6, 2021, “Stop the Steal” rally, where he told those assembled not to “quit fighting.”
Meanwhile, the allegations that led to Thursday’s impeachment recommendation are far from the only legal issues Paxton has faced since becoming Texas’s AG. Per Vox:
In 2015, Paxton was accused by Byron Cook, a former Republican state legislator, and Florida businessman Joel Hochberg of encouraging them to invest $100,000 or more in a technology company called Servergy Inc., without notifying them that he would earn a commission if they did so. This is alleged to have happened in 2011, while Paxton was a member of the Texas House. The indictment in that case alleges that Paxton “intentionally fail[ed] to disclose” that he had been given compensation in the form of 100,000 shares of Servergy stock, charging him with two counts of securities fraud. He was also charged with a failure to register with the state securities board. Paxton has denied the allegations in the case, which is still making its way through the courts eight years later.
Paxton has also been the subject of an ethics complaint concerning his effort to overturn the 2020 election. Last year he used his wife as a decoy in an attempt to avoid being served a subpoena related to an abortion lawsuit.
As a reminder, Senator Tommy Tuberville doesn’t know the three branches of government and Don Jr., well, y’know
Point, counterpoint
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