Gop-led Texas House weighs impeaching state AG Paxton

AUSTIN, Texas – The Republican-led Texas House of Representatives has set a historic Saturday vote to possibly impeach embattled state Attorney General Ken Paxton and suspend him from office, just as some prominent conservatives began to rally around him.

Paxton, 60, finds himself on the brink of impeachment after years of scandal, criminal charges and corruption accusations.

The House will consider a resolution calling for Paxton’s impeachment at 1 p.m. Saturday, according to a statement released by the House Committee on General Investigating.

If impeached, Paxton would be forced to leave office immediately.

The Gop-led committee spent months quietly looking into Paxton and recommended Thursday that the state’s top lawyer be impeached on 20 articles including bribery, unfitness for office and abuse of public trust.

Paxton, a Republican, has criticized the impeachment effort as an attempt to “overthrow the will of the people and disenfranchise the voters of our state.”

The announcement came as Republican support began to rally around the embattled attorney general, with the chairman of the state Republican Party calling the process a “sham” and calling on the Gop-controlled Senate to acquit Paxton when the cases reaches trial in that chamber.

First will come the House vote. “We cannot over-emphasize the fact that, but for Paxton’s own request for a taxpayer-funded settlement over his wrongful conduct, Paxton would not be facing impeachment by the House.”

The move to impeach sets up what could be a remarkably sudden downfall for one of the GOP’S most prominent legal combatants, who in 2020 asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory.