Republicans in the Texas Legislature have taken the unprecedented step of impeaching Attorney General Ken Paxton, one of the state’s most outspoken right-wing figures.
On the basis of 20 articles alleging corruption, extortion, and abuse of office, a large majority of Texas House Republicans voted to impeach Paxton. This action caused a new rift in a state party that has been riven by divisions emanating from the far right’s allegiance to Donald Trump.
“Election interference” and warned the Republicans who supported it, “I will fight you.”
House Republicans appear unmoved. Dick DeGuerin and Rusty Hardin, two of the most well-known attorneys in Texas, were selected by the House impeachment administrators on Thursday to oversee the prosecution.
Hardin implied that the upcoming trial would be combustible, stating, “I promise you, it is 10 times worse than what has been made public.”
The impeachment trial must commence no later than August 28, but no date has been established as of yet. If the trial extends into the late autumn, it could risk escalating tensions within the party and influencing the state primaries in early March 2024.
Angela Paxton, Paxton’s wife and a Republican state senator, could be an important juror in the Senate. Since the impeachment vote, the question of how she might manage this responsibility — whether she would choose or be compelled to recuse herself — has hung over the State Capitol.
