Paxton Impeachment

Last Saturday the Texas House voted 121-23 to impeach Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. The landslide bi-partisan vote shows this is not a political or a partisan matter. Ken Paxton has proven to be a liar, a fraud, and a criminal in multiple ways during his tenure as Attorney General. Texas citizens deserve accountability and our state representative, John Kuempel, did the right thing and voted to impeach unlike 20 other Republicans.

The House charged Paxton on 20 counts. Half of the charges are related to actions taken to benefit Nate Paul a wealthy Austin real estate developer who has made high dollar donations to Paxton’s political campaigns, rewards from Paul to Paxton, or to cover-up those actions, including the firing of whistleblowers.

In Article 1, Paxton is charged with failing to act as a public protector of charitable organizations by directing his employees in the attorney general’s office to intervene in a lawsuit brought by the Roy F. & JoAnn Cole Mitte Foundation against entities controlled Paul, harming the Austin charity in an effort to benefit Paul.

Article 9 Alleges that Paxton benefited from Paul’s decision to hire the woman that Paxton has acknowledged having an affair with. In exchange, Paul allegedly received favorable legal assistance from, or specialized access to, the attorney general’s office.

Article 10 Alleges that in exchange for providing free renovations to Paxton’s home, Paul received favorable legal assistance from, or specialized access to, the attorney general’s office.

Other charges include Article 16 in which Paxton is accused of conspiring or attempting to conspire with others to commit acts described in one or more articles. Article 17 in which Paxton is accused of misusing his official powers by causing employees to perform services for his benefit and the benefit of others. Paxton is also charged with Dereliction of Duty, Unfitness for Office, and Abuse of Public Trust among other allegations.

The next step is a trial in the Texas Senate, in which Paxton’s wife Angela is a member. According to the Texas constitution the senate sets its own rules for the trial so at this time it is unknown whether Senator Paxton will be allowed to vote on the charges. Since the constitution requires that two thirds of the senate members present at the trial vote to convict in order to remove an official from office that means 20 or 21 must do so depending on whether or not his wife is allowed to participate.

The partisan split in the senate is 19 Republican and 12 Democrats. I think we can be assured of the all 12 Democrats voting to convict since Paxton’s mis-deeds have been in the public eye since well before the 2022 election. The real question in my mind is whether or not there are 8 or 9 Republican senators with the fortitude to do the right thing and remove the odious Paxton from office.

Republican Senator Donna Campbell represents a section of Guadalupe County north of I-10 and west of Highway 123, Democrats Judith Zaffirini and Roland Gutierrez represent the rest of the county. We’ll have to wait and see if Sen. Campbell has the integrity to vote for conviction or prefers to pander to the Republican base.

Published in the Seguin Gazette May 31, 2023