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Originally posted by erj_pilot:
So for that criticism they’re trying to impeach Paxton.[/b][/i]

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Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Help me where can I find his incohorent speech. I just get walls of text. Thanks

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Later today the Texas House of Representatives is expected to take up Articles of Impeachment against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. As a former State Representative and now as County Judge, I have serious concerns about this attempt to undermine the will of the citizens of this great state. This is nothing more than an attempt to thwart the duly elected Attorney General who has seen success after success in federal court against the overreaching federal government under Presidents Obama and Biden.

General Paxton is a true friend who has helped me tremendously throughout my tenure as a public servant. While in the House, I could count on Ken to answer any call regarding pending legislation that I may have had questions on. More recently as County Judge, Ken advised me on the legalities of all the crazy COVID restrictions undertaken in Texas and was instrumental in my decisions to keep Montgomery County open by providing me the legal foundation to help me make the best decisions, because of which we are stronger than ever for it!

But despite our friendship, my resolve to take a stand today is due to the lack of legal grounds the legislature has on the proceedings it is about to undertake. Only a few legislators at this point have been allowed to be involved in the ethics committee’s process and despite Texas Government Code allowing the full house to compel testimony, only hired guns who once served in the bowels of the Harris County Justice System were allowed to investigate and ask the questions leading to articles of impeachment.

Texas law is pretty clear on the surface of a layman’s reading. No officer of this state may be impeached from office for an act the officer may have committed before the officer's election to office. Attorney General Ken Paxton was overwhelmingly elected to the office of Attorney General in November of 2022 and was sworn in earlier this year. In Montgomery County alone, he received over 73% of the vote. The Articles of Impeachment drafted by the General Ethics Committee in the Texas House conveniently withhold the alleged dates to which the alleged offenses occurred.

So as a former member of the Texas House, I do not believe the full House membership has had the ability to review evidence, witness statements, or anything to substantiate these Articles of Impeachment. I am a staunch proponent of due process and it’s very clearly lacking in this case. For these reasons I would boldly vote NO on the question of Impeachment and get back to work passing a balance budget, property tax reforms and so many other conservative pieces of legislation about to die by the clock.

The DC swamp is proudly supporting the efforts to impeach and that is all we really need to know about what will take place later today. I pray the Texas House quickly resolves this mistake, overwhelming rejects this farce and votes NO, respecting the will of the voters and quickly getting back to the real business before it. The clock is ticking and Texans deserve the victories in Austin we elected our members to achieve and this is NOT one of them.

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So as a former member of the Texas House, I do not believe the full House membership has had the ability to review evidence, witness statements, or anything to substantiate these Articles of Impeachment. I am a staunch proponent of due process and it’s very clearly lacking in this case. For these reasons I would boldly vote NO on the question of Impeachment and get back to work passing a balance budget, property tax reforms and so many other conservative pieces of legislation about to die by the clock.

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Originally posted by Tailhook 84:
Fox News reported the vote to impeach was 121-23. Apparently there are a lot of Republicans who thought there was enough evidence to vote for an impeachment.

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Originally posted by preten2b:
I still have questions for those in the know. Who or what is leading to this harassment of Ken Paxton??

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According to Texas GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi, he considers the impeachment proceedings a battle to to stop the conservative direction of the state.

It is telling that Dade Phelan, a staunch anti- Trump Republican, is instrumental in these proceedings against Paxton, a loyal Trump supporter, who is not only one of the most conservative A.G.s in the country, but the tip of the spear as far as state A.G.s fighting voter fraud.

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Originally posted by preten2b:
Many here are wondering how this has advanced in the R controlled Texas house, and there have been other conservative initiatives which Texas has not acted on.

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Texas Senate debating rules for Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial
Story by Lauren McGaughy, The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Senate on Tuesday is meeting to discuss rules for state Attorney General Ken Paxton’s historic impeachment trial.

Proposed trial rules were distributed to senators in the morning, after which they spent several hours voting on property tax provisions and holding a news conference lauding the passage of that legislation. At 1:30 p.m, the Senate convened a meeting closed to the public without explicitly stating it was debating the proposed rules for impeachment proceedings.

Several senators did not respond to questions about whether they are currently considering the rules. The Senate was to gavel back in for a public meeting at 6 p.m.

The rules have not been released publicly.

They will set the tone for the trial, in which senators will determine whether Paxton is removed from office after being accused of widespread wrongdoing over several years. The GOP-led Texas House impeached Paxton on May 27; he is suspended from his official duties pending the trial’s outcome.

One of the most highly watched outcomes will be if state Sen. Angela Paxton, the attorney general’s wife, can participate in the proceedings. She remained silent on calls for her to recuse herself until Monday evening, when she issued a statement saying she will “carry out my duties” without explicitly saying whether she’ll vote on her husband’s removal.

The Senate will also likely vote on whether to have live witnesses or depositions; to allow cameras in the chamber; and to follow civil or criminal trial rules. Approval of two-thirds of senators is needed to remove Paxton from his post as attorney general.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who as Senate president will preside over the trial, said Monday that the rules would be released this week. He called them “complex” and promised “full transparency.”

“We have to write rules for the trial. There’s some precedent, some law, but it’s 100 years old. So we’ll have to map this out,” Patrick told conservative radio host Mark Davis. He also said that while Paxton’s lawyers have asked for the impeachment to be disposed of quickly, legally the Senate must take up the issue.

“We are required in the (Texas) Constitution to have a trial,” Patrick said.

A statewide official in Texas has not been impeached for more than 100 years; the last impeachment proceedings in the Senate took place in 1975.

Paxton has denied wrongdoing and accused fellow Republicans of targeting him for his conservative policies and thwart the will of voters, who reelected him last year. On Monday, he sent out a fundraising call in which he called the impeachment proceedings a “kangaroo court” meant to “eliminate America’s most conservative Attorney General.”

The 20 articles of impeachment against Paxton include unfitness for office, dereliction of duty and misappropriation of public resources. He is also accused of lying on his financial disclosures, and for obstructing justice by delaying state criminal trials on securities fraud charges he’s faced for eight years.

At the core of many of the most serious articles of impeachment are allegations that Paxton misused his power to help real estate developer and campaign donor Nate Paul, who was charged with federal financial crimes earlier this month.

The Paul accusations first surfaced more than two years ago, when several of Paxton’s top employees reported him to the FBI for alleged bribery and abuse of office. The employees eventually filed a whistleblower lawsuit, saying the attorney general did favors for Paul at this agency in exchange for help remodeling his Austin home and a job for a woman with whom Paxton was allegedly having an affair.

The House launched an investigation into Paxton earlier this year, which ultimately resulted in his impeachment, when his agency asked for $3.3 million in state money to settle the whistleblower lawsuit. The investigation is ongoing and subpoenas were issued last month to entities that touch on both Ken and Angela Paxton’s personal and campaign finances.

The trial will have its own price tag. The House impeachment managers hired two high-powered lawyers to present the case for Paxton’s removal from office, both of whom will make $500 an hour, and other associated costs include senators’ per diem.

Paxton brought on two private attorneys, and his agency waived its own ethics rules so that six people could take leave to defend him .

Last week, the attorney general’s separate securities fraud cases were revived after being long stalled when the state’s top appeals court set Houston as the future trial venue. Depending on the timing of the Senate proceedings, this decision means Paxton may be facing a jury of his peers in the fraud trials just as he is also fighting removal from office.