The stunning impeachment charges against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton set in motion a process where he would be removed from office after a successful House vote – and where his wife Angela could sit in judgement in the Senate amid tawdry charges involving an affair.
On Thursday a Republican-led committee came out with a recommendation to impeach the embattled AG after years of probes and allegations. He was indicted in 2015 on securities fraud charges but has not stood trial.
One charge deals with bribery charges involving real estate developer and Paxton donor Nate Paul. Paul is accused of giving a job to the woman Paxton was having an affair with in exchange for legal assistance.
Paxton told staffers about the the 2018 affair, the Associated Press reported in November 2020, days before Paxton would help lead a legal effort to help former President Donald Trump overturn the election results. A group of aides who accused Paxton of corruption got fired, then were paid $3.3 million in taxpayer funds in a settlement.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton faces multiple impeachment charges in the Republican controlled Texas State House. His wife, Angela, is a state senator who must decide whether to recuse herself from participating in his Senate impeachment ‘trial’
Should the Republican-dominated House voted to remove him, Paxton would be temporarily removed from office before his trial in the state Senate, where his wife state Sen. Angela Paxton will have to decide whether to participate in proceedings.
The former math teacher was elected in 2018, and was at Paxton’s side when he spoke at Trump’s ‘Save America’ rally outside the White House on January 6, 2020.
She could decide to recuse herself from the decision – it would be only the third official impeached in 200 years in Texas – or the state Senate could make a decision on how such matters should be handled, the Houston Chronicle reported.
The Justice Department opened its own probe in February after a raft of Paxton aides brought allegations to the FBI.
The five-member House panel, which has three Republicans and two Democrats on it, recommended 20 articles of impeachment.
The state House is heavily Republican, with the 149-member chamber split 85-64 – but Paxton has been warring with the state GOP leadership.
Paxton has attacked the ‘liberal leadership’ of the GOP House, and says they have ‘demonstrated nothing but contempt for the traditional values of conservative Texas.’
He also attacked ‘liberal’ Republican House Speaker David Phelan, demanded his resignation, and accused him of being drunk during a marathon session last Friday.
Phelan´s office has brushed off the accusation as Paxton attempting to ‘save face.’
By taking him on, ‘The RINOs in the Texas Legislature are now on the same side as Joe Biden,’ said Paxton.
The state Senate, which is controlled by Republicans 19-12, would hold Paxton’s impeachment ‘trial.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
