# Ken Paxton, Texas AG, facing impeachment from fellow Republicans (is impeached on May 27, 2023) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 26, 2023, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608 "2023-05-26T01:24:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MulderMuffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldermuffin/32/2862_2.png) [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/1 "2023-05-26T01:24:22Z")
> **[Texas House committee recommends Attorney General Ken Paxton be impeached](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/texas-house-committee-recommends-attorney-general-ken-paxton-impeached-rcna86332)** > > An official in the Republican attorney general's office called the action by the GOP-led committee "illegal." > The five-member [GOP-led investigative committee met Wednesday](https://apnews.com/article/texas-ken-paxton-investigation-40ba70a33235eda9a31fc2628cbd7d61#:~:text=Investigators%20told%20the%20GOP%2Dled,of%20official%20capacity%20and%20retaliation.)to discuss the allegations of wrongdoing against Paxton, a fellow Republican and the state’s top lawyer A timeline of his many, many legal troubles going back years. Somehow the person in charge of the law in Texas never seems to make it to trial… > **[Timeline: The legal woes of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton](https://www.kvue.com/article/news/politics/ken-paxton-legal-timeline/269-8687d458-ee79-429b-9531-8cf90bacee69)** > > Throughout his time as attorney general of Texas, Paxton has faced many controversies. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/2 "2023-05-26T01:59:54Z")
There’s also some conversation about this in the “Trump enablers” thread in the Pit. The expectation is that the Texas House will vote to impeach him this weekend. Under the Texas Constitution, if impeached, Paxton is temporarily removed from office until he is tried in the Texas Senate. But the Legislature is set to adjourn on Monday (the Texas Legislature only meets for five months every two years). It’s not clear when the Senate would reconvene for the trial. In the meantime, Governor Greg Abbott would be able to appoint an interim AG to carry out the duties of the office until Paxton’s trial is resolved. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/3 "2023-05-26T08:31:31Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Under the Texas Constitution, if impeached, Paxton is temporarily removed from office until he is tried in the Texas Senate. In theory, what if he just ignored the impeachment? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/4 "2023-05-26T08:36:02Z")
> ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/5 "2023-05-26T13:24:34Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > In theory, what if he just ignored the impeachment? Once he’s impeached, constitutionally he no longer is able to exercise the powers of the Attorney General. His deputy did raise a potential objection to the impeachment – state law says that, “a state officer may not be removed from office for an act the officer may have committed before the officer’s election to office.” The deputy argued that means _his most recent election_ – i.e. last November – and the acts he’s being impeached for took place during his previous terms as AG. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/6 "2023-05-26T13:31:13Z")
So I’m assuming he’ll try for an injunction from being removed from office until the court rules if his impeachment is legal. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/7 "2023-05-26T13:39:29Z")
Maybe. It’s a terribly weak argument – the impeachment process (including the suspension from office requirement) is in the Texas Constitution, and a statute can’t override that. I’d be shocked if a court was willing to grant him any relief. What’s interesting about this whole situation is how completely friendless Paxton is right now. Nobody’s speaking up for him – Abbott and Patrick have been silent, the state GOP chairman as well. There seems to be a consensus among state Republicans that they’re sick of this idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/8 "2023-05-26T13:39:32Z")
I like the part where Paxton is upset that fellow Republicans are messing with him, instead of paying attention to important stuff like “school choice”. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/9 "2023-05-26T14:12:49Z")
Not sure if any of the linked articles mentioned this tidbit, but Ken Paxton’s wife, Angela, is a member of the Texas Senate. In true GOP fashion, she will probably not recuse herself from the trial in the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/10 "2023-05-26T14:51:14Z")
Considering that one of the charges is that a donor bribed him in part by giving a job to Paxton’s mistress, maybe we should hope Angela doesn’t recuse. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/11 "2023-05-26T14:58:20Z")
Why the hell did it take so long though? He’s clearly not suitable for being the _attorney general_, having been indicted for securities fraud, had a SEC civil enforcement action filed against him, been accused of stifling a whistleblower, and had ethics complaints against him. I’d have thought any one of those would have been damning for a mere legislator, never mind the _Attorney General_. And all of those were WHILE HE WAS IN OFFICE. Yet for some unfathomable reason, the Texas GOP is just _ **now** _ deciding they’re fed up and going to impeach him. This should have happened eight years ago on his initial indictment, not eight years later after he’s had a chance to rack up all that other BS. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/12 "2023-05-26T15:09:23Z")
Republicans were OK with Paxton’s sleaze as long as it didn’t impact them. The catalyst seems to be that he reached a settlement with the whistleblowers he fired that was contingent on the Legislature appropriating public money to pay for it. That _really_ pissed off a lot of Republican legislators, because now they were getting dragged into his mess. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/13 "2023-05-26T16:12:43Z")
This sums up so much that is wrong in this country: > He opened a legal defense fund and accepted $100,000 from an executive whose company was under investigation by Paxton’s office for Medicaid fraud. An additional $50,000 was donated by an Arizona retiree whose son Paxton later hired to a high-ranking job but was soon fired after trying to make a point by displaying child pornography in a meeting. > **[Texas lawmakers issue 20 articles of impeachment against state Attorney...](https://apnews.com/article/texas-attorney-general-paxton-impeachment-1eaccf00ce80d26c4fc94eab1672e1bd)** > > Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is facing a historic impeachment vote after years of scandal, criminal charges and corruption accusations. A Republican-led House investigative committee on Thursday recommended impeaching the state’s top lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/14 "2023-05-26T16:45:41Z")
It will be ironic if he goes to trial for corruption, and it turns out that the only corrupt thing that they can prove is the donations to his defense fund. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/15 "2023-05-26T17:59:10Z")
Beat up on this guy yet Trump & Clarence Thomas’ grotesquely flagrant corruption passes by republicans with scarcely a murmur. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/16 "2023-05-26T19:18:57Z")
The Texas House will take up Paxton’s impeachment at 1:00 on Saturday. > **[Ken Paxton updates: Texas House will debate impeachment Saturday](https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/26/ken-paxton-texas-impeachment-latest/)** > > A Texas House committee has filed 20 articles of impeachment accusing attorney general of wrongdoing. Republicans’ attempts to remove one of their own sets up a dramatic intraparty showdown in the waning days of the 2023 regular legislative session. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/17 "2023-05-26T19:26:05Z")
If they’re going into adjournment on Monday, this all feels pretty pre-meditated and predetermined. I’m not feeling like we’re going to hit any surprises on this. The man’s going to be put on leave and the Senate is going to hope that the judicial system takes care of it before they have to assemble again, to debate it. Fait accompli. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/18 "2023-05-26T21:02:04Z")
He’s giving a hastily announced press conference in a few minutes. Edit: Eh, just standard Trumpian “I’m the victim of a conspiracy by the establishment” rhetoric. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/19 "2023-05-26T21:07:01Z")
I would expect no less – and no more. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608/20 "2023-05-26T21:07:28Z")
How awful do you have to be that the Texas Republicans not only noticed but _cared_? Wow. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-paxton-texas-ag-facing-impeachment-from-fellow-republicans-is-impeached-on-may-27-2023/984608.md?page=2)