The historic impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is plunging Republicans into a bruising fight over whether to banish one of their own in America’s biggest red state.
For now, Texas' three-term attorney general is immediately suspended after the state House of Representatives on Saturday impeached Paxton on 20 articles that included bribery and abuse of public trust.Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
It is not year clear when the Senate trial will take place. Final removal of Paxton would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate, where Republican members are generally aligned with the party's hard right. The Senate is led by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has served as state chairman for former President Donald Trump's campaigns in Texas.
Paxton, 60, decried the outcome in the House moments after scores of his fellow partisans voted for impeachment. His office pointed to internal reports that found no wrongdoing. “I perceive it could be political weaponization,” Rep. Tony Tinderholt, one of the House’s most conservative members, said before the vote. Republican Rep. John Smithee compared the proceeding to"a Saturday mob out for an afternoon lynching.”
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 soon was fired after displaying child pornography in a meeting. In 2020, Paxton intervened in a Colorado mountain community where a Texas donor and college classmate faced removal from his lakeside home under coronavirus orders.
In 2020, eight top aides told the FBI they were concerned Paxton was misusing his office to help Paul over the developer's unproven claims about an elaborate conspiracy to steal $200 million of his properties. The FBI searched Paul’s home in 2019, but he has not been charged and denies wrongdoing. Paxton also told staff members he had an affair with a woman who, it later emerged, worked for Paul.
Deutschland Neuesten Nachrichten, Deutschland Schlagzeilen
Similar News:Sie können auch ähnliche Nachrichten wie diese lesen, die wir aus anderen Nachrichtenquellen gesammelt haben.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton impeached by the Texas HouseThe House voted 121-23 to suspend the attorney general and refer him to the Senate for trial on charges of bribery, abuse of office and obstruction. It was the first such impeachment since 1975.
Weiterlesen »
Texas AG Ken Paxton splits GOP ahead of impeachment voteDonald Trump Jr. said Paxton was being targeted by a 'RINO/Dem led witch hunt.'
Weiterlesen »
Texas' GOP-held House set for impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken PaxtonIf impeached, Paxton would be removed from office pending a Senate trial, and it would fall to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to appoint an interim replacement.
Weiterlesen »
Ken Paxton updates: Texas House impeachment vote will be an intra-GOP showdownThe embattled attorney general has criticized a Republican-led push that could remove him from office. The Texas House is set to debate 20 articles of impeachment at 1 p.m.
Weiterlesen »
Watch live: Impeachment proceedings against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton beginImpeachment proceedings against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton start at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Weiterlesen »
Texas House launches historic impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken PaxtonTexas’ GOP-led House of Representatives has begun historic impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton as Donald Trump came to the defense of the scandal-plagued Republican
Weiterlesen »