The Paxton impeachment sham by The Establishment undermines Texas voters’ will.

Texas Politics: A‍ History of Rancor and Lawfare

Texas politics have long been rancorous, unscrupulous, and, in recent years, marred by‌ bitter lawfare⁣ — weaponizing the​ legal system to circumvent election⁤ results.

Consider LBJ’s theft‍ of the 1948 Democratic⁤ primary for the U.S. Senate, which his Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, Robert Caro, confirmed was due to ballot box stuffing in south Texas’ corrupt Jim ​Wells County. Other examples abound. More recently, Democratic prosecutors in Austin, the seat of ultra-liberal Travis County,‌ have filed​ baseless criminal charges against a series of Republican elected officials, including then-state Treasurer (and later U.S. Sen.) Kay⁤ Bailey Hutchison, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, and even sitting‌ Gov. Rick Perry.

Not all of the attempts to kneecap political opponents involve‌ Democrats attacking Republicans.⁢ Some of the nastiest donnybrooks were initiated ​by “establishment” or “moderate” Republicans against⁤ conservatives.

The establishment worried that Paxton,‍ thrice elected as AG, would become the frontrunner to succeed Abbott as governor, decided to double down on its‌ lawfare campaign. Provoked by ⁤Paxton’s claim that Texas Speaker Dade⁤ Phelan should resign for appearing on the House floor ​while intoxicated, in May the House voted to impeach Paxton on additional charges ⁤of ⁤doing favors for a wealthy campaign donor (Austin real estate investor Nate Paul) ⁢and terminating four⁢ staffers who claimed to be “whistleblowers.”

Under Texas law, the impeachment vote resulted​ in the immediate suspension of Paxton from‌ his duties as AG, pending the outcome of his trial in the Texas Senate, scheduled to begin on Sept. 5. A two-thirds vote of the Senate —⁣ a more conservative body than the Texas House — is needed to convict Paxton. Lt. Governor Dan ‍Patrick, a conservative stalwart who endorsed Paxton in the 2022 primary⁢ election, will serve as presiding officer at the impeachment trial. The Texas Republican‍ Party supports ⁣Paxton.

The impeachment proceedings reassemble antagonists from previous skirmishes. One of Paxton’s lawyers is Tony ⁢Buzbee, ​who represented Rick Perry in the frivolous charges​ filed while he ‌was governor. The team advocating for conviction includes Houston lawyers Rusty Hardin (who played⁢ a similar role​ in the futile campaign against​ Wallace Hall) and⁣ Dick DeGuerin (who previously defended Kay Bailey⁤ Hutchison and Tom DeLay). DeGuerin also achieved⁤ notoriety for representing David Koresh during the Waco ⁤standoff.

What will happen at ‍Paxton’s impeachment trial on Sept. 5? In November 2022, the ultimate jury in Texas ⁢politics — the voters — marked 4,278,986 ballots for Paxton. Will a cabal of vindictive establishment hacks succeed in overturning the election? Texas is a popular democracy, not a parliamentary‌ system. Executive officials are chosen by the voting public, not the legislature. A strong argument can⁣ be made that under Texas law, an elected official cannot be removed from‍ office for misconduct if the predicate ‌offenses antedated an election⁤ and were a matter of public record known to the electorate.

The rationale, in the words‍ of the Texas Supreme Court, is that “the⁣ public, as ‌the ultimate judge and jury in a democratic society, ⁢can choose to forgive the misconduct of⁤ an elected official ⁢if⁢ the public knows ⁤about such misconduct prior to the‌ election.” To⁢ the dismay of the RINO establishment in Texas, their campaign to besmirch Paxton has not diminished his popular support. The voters selected him ⁣despite extensive public airing of various⁤ allegations about him. As Americans witnessed during the presidency of Donald Trump, impeachment is the last resort of frustrated political opponents unable to get their way‍ through the⁤ democratic​ political process.

In Texas, as ‍in the nation’s⁣ capital, impeachment is just another form of lawfare. Convicting Paxton would bar him from holding public office in the future — precisely the establishment’s goal, ​contrary to the voters’ mandate. Such a‌ result would be tantamount to a ‍banana republic coup unworthy of⁣ the Lone Star‍ State.