Republicans refuse to dismiss impeachment articles against Texas AG Ken Paxton.
AUSTIN, Texas—The Texas Senate chamber was transformed into a captivating courtroom for the historic impeachment trial of state Attorney General Ken Paxton, which commenced on Tuesday morning at the state Capitol in Austin, Texas.
Following the swearing-in of the 30 senators who will determine Mr. Paxton’s fate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick began addressing the pretrial motions before hearing the opening statements.
Mr. Paxton faced impeachment on 20 articles in late May by the GOP-led House of Representatives, with a vote of 121–23. This makes him only the third sitting official to be impeached in the state’s nearly 200-year history, with the last impeachment case occurring over a century ago.
The articles of impeachment against Mr. Paxton include allegations of abuse of power and bribery, among others. However, Mr. Paxton and his legal team vehemently deny all of these accusations.
As one of the most conservative lawmakers in Texas, the suspended attorney general has filed over two dozen lawsuits against the Biden administration since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
A multitude of Paxton supporters, donning shirts in solidarity, gathered to witness the proceedings.
Pretrial Motions
The first half of the day was dedicated to handling numerous pretrial motions filed by Mr. Paxton’s legal team, seeking to dismiss the articles of impeachment and exclude certain evidence. However, all of these motions were denied.
A simple majority of 16 out of the 30 voting members was required to approve each motion. The most support Mr. Paxton received was 10 votes out of 30 to dismiss one article. Many of the motions only garnered six to eight votes in Mr. Paxton’s favor.
Mr. Paxton’s wife, Sen. Angela Paxton, observed the proceedings from her Senate seat. However, she is prohibited from voting or participating in the trial, as per the rules established earlier this summer.
Among the Senate Republicans, only six voted in favor of Paxton to dismiss every article. They were Sens. Paul Bettencourt, Donna Campbell, Brandon Creighton, Bob Hall, Lois Kolkhorst, and Tan Parker.
Five other Republicans voted to dismiss at least one of the motions: Sens. Bryan Hughes, Charles Perry, Charles Schwertner, and Kevin Sparks.
The remaining Republicans, including Sens. Brian Birdwell, Pete Flores, Kelly Hancock, Joan Huffman, Mayes Middleton, Robert Nichols, and Drew Springer, voted against every motion alongside the 12 Senate Democrats.
In a summary judgment, Mr. Paxton’s attorneys argued that all of the impeachment articles lacked supporting evidence and should be dismissed.
The senators denied the first motion to dismiss all 20 articles in a vote of 24–6.
In a victory for Mr. Paxton, his request to be precluded from testifying was granted, citing a defendant’s right not to be called as a witness in a criminal trial.
“The attorney general cannot be compelled to testify,” Mr. Patrick stated, adding that the decision is “consistent with the reasoning and judgment” of the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Patrick also outlined the timeline for the trial. Each side will have one hour for opening and closing statements, as well as 24 hours to present evidence, question witnesses, and conduct cross-examinations. The trial is expected to last approximately two weeks.
House Impeachment Managers’ Opening Statements
House Rep. Andrew Murr delivered the opening statements on behalf of the House impeachment managers, who argue that Mr. Paxton should be removed from office despite being re-elected to a third term in November.
The House impeachment managers have accused Mr. Paxton of using his position to protect real estate investor Nate Paul, alleging that Mr. Paul had undue influence over the attorney general’s office.
They claim that Mr. Paul helped Mr. Paxton cover up an extramarital affair and financed a home renovation in exchange for legal assistance from the attorney general.
“Voters were not aware of the whole truth,” Mr. Murr said. “Mr. Paxton went to great lengths to conceal his misconduct from the public.”
Mr. Murr spent less than 20 minutes highlighting impeachable actions, including accusations that Mr. Paxton used burner phones, evaded his security detail, and established secret email addresses to hide his alleged misconduct.
He argued that the evidence will demonstrate Mr. Paxton’s “gradual descent into corruption,” emphasizing that the attorney general’s conduct does not have to be proven criminal for him to be removed from office.
Opening Statements for Paxton
High-profile Houston attorney Tony Buzbee dismissed the entire case as “a whole lot of nothing” without any supporting evidence.
Mr. Buzbee and defense attorney Dan Cogdell utilized nearly their entire hour to refute the accusations, asserting that they will be disproven beyond a reasonable doubt.
They accused the media of perpetuating falsehoods against their client and claimed that the gag order issued by Mr. Patrick prevented them from addressing the “fabricated lies” leveled against Mr. Paxton.
Mr. Buzbee remarked, “Now, the House wants 30 people to decide whether Mr. Paxton is allowed to serve his office despite the more than 4.2 million who re-elected him less than a year ago.”
Mr. Buzbee pointe
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