Texas AG Paxton Impeached In Less Than One Week

The Texas House of Representatives voted late this afternoon to impeach state Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton.

Following a promised four hours of debate, House Speaker Dade Phelan, with the speed of an auctioneer, called for the vote on the impeachment resolution before any point of order or objections could be raised. The tally was 121 ayes, 23 nays, and 2 present and not voting, with three absences.

The articles of impeachment will now head to the Texas Senate. It is unclear when (or if) the upper chamber will take action, as the ongoing legislative session is scheduled to end Monday, Memorial Day. Several Senators have sent out identical statements advising that they will not comment on the matter. Paxton’s wife, Angela Paxton, represents Senate District 8 in North Texas, and has not commented publicly.

When word got out earlier this week that House leadership would pursue impeachment proceedings against Paxton, supporters and detractors lined up along predictable lines. Paxton allies including former President Donald Trump issued supportive statements, with many calling on constituents to telephone their representatives and urge that they not consider impeachment.

Most House members speaking in opposition today addressed the quick turnaround, including at least one Democrat, Rep. Harold Dutton. Republican Rep. Richard Hayes urged members to “slow the roll” concerning the process. We include a lengthy statement by GOP Rep. Matt Schaefer (who opposed Paxton in the 2022 primary election) below, urging his colleagues that a lengthier and more thorough process should be followed. Others warned this may set a dangerous precedent, while still other members criticized or praised Texas’ reputation for being able to “indict a ham sandwich.” A few others pointed out that Paxton had not presented his side of the 20 articles of impeachment.

Democratic Rep. Terry Canales decried concerns that there was insufficient evidence to impeach, saying that in many cases “hearsay may be admissible.” Sending the articles to the Senate, he said, was akin to a grand jury voting to hand a case to a court — that the House did not have to prove anything in and of themselves.

The Office of Attorney General released a statement that the impeachment was “irresponsible, unfounded, and illegal,” also including a report which purports to clear Paxton of certain allegations.

Prior to the House General Investigations committee’s decision to push forward impeachment articles, Paxton issued a preemptive counterpunch, claiming that Speaker Phelan was drunk at the dais, demanding he be investigated, and assailing House leadership as being liberal. No action has been taken by the Speaker-appointed, five-member GI committee. See our full analysis of the events leading up to today’s impeachment vote here.

Now that Paxton is impeached, a temporary AG may be appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott. At the time of writing no names had been mentioned. First Assistant Atty. Gen. Brent Webster announced he is filling in for the time being.

Paxton, a former member of the Texas House, was re-elected with 53% of the general election vote against Democrat Rochelle Garza and Libertarian Mark Ash, following a high-profile Republican primary race against then-Land Commissioner George P. Bush and then-Congressman Louie Gohmert. The bulk of this week’s accusations against Paxton were known well-before the election and were major campaign issues.

This is a developing situation. More information about the Texas impeachment and removal process may be read here.

Statement by Rep. Matt Schaefer:

I have grave concerns with the process that has been used in the impeachment investigation of Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Under the direction of Speaker Phelan, the House Committee on General Investigating has conducted its business for many weeks outside the knowledge of rank and file members of the Texas House. To my knowledge not a single member of the Texas House has interviewed, or directed questions to a single witness, and that includes members of the General Investigating Committee. All interviews were conducted by hired staff.

Nor have any transcripts of interviews with witnesses conducted by committee staff been provided to the members of the full House. Nor have members been provided with substantiating documents.

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To be clear, the full Texas House has not heard any testimony from witnesses, nor have we been provided transcripts of such testimony.

As I write this, I cannot determine whether those witnesses were under oath when they were interviewed by staff. I asked two members of the committee and they did not know the answer. Furthermore, it is the stated intent of Speaker Phelan and Chairman Murr that no direct evidence will be provided to the full House when the articles of impeachment are called up for consideration.

Texas Government Code Sec. 665.005 states that the full house may compel testimony. The only transcript that has been provided to the full House was the transcript of staff members of the General Investigating Committee presenting an account of their findings to the committee on May 24, 2023. After speaking to the parliamentarian of the House, reading the transcript, and asking questions to some members of the General Investigating Committee, I believe this process is being rushed. I do not believe that members of the House have a good understanding of the adequacy, legality, or fairness of the impeachment process. We are being asked to vote on impeachment tomorrow, Saturday, May 27th while in the midst of considering the House budget, and many other legislative items of great importance.

I am deeply disturbed by the way this is being handled. Political considerations seem to be involved.

The weight of the decision we face as members of the Texas House of Representatives is enormous. The practical consequence of impeaching the Attorney General is to overturn an election decided by the voters of Texas. Many (but not all) of the allegations in the impeachment resolution were known to some extent by the voting public at the time of the election.

I publicly opposed Ken Paxton’s re-election in the Republican primary, and I called out his very serious moral and legal failings. But if it is right to impeach Ken Paxton, it is being done in the wrong way. Barring a drastic change in the nature of the House proceedings on impeachment, I will be voting no.

I will vote no because I do not have confidence in the procedure. This impeachment procedure may be a significant departure from the due process considerations afforded during similar proceedings in Texas history. I cannot vote to impeach when the members of the full House have had no direct access to witnesses or supporting documents, and have had no time to properly prepare and understand the matters in question.

The simple truth is that the evidentiary basis to impeach Attorney General Paxton has not been properly established.

Process matters.

Final vote, per House Journal. Rep. David Cook noted he would have preferred to vote on the articles one by one and would have opposed three of them. Three members were absent. Click for larger view.

 

Updates: 12:06 a.m. 5/28/23

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