Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton acquitted in impeachment trial

AUSTIN, Texas – Ken Paxton was acquitted of articles of impeachment by the Texas Senate on Saturday, clearing the attorney general of charges that he was unfit for office and bribery.

The Senate voted to acquit Paxton of 16 of 20 articles of impeachment after deliberating for about nine hours. Paxton was not present in the Senate chamber when the verdict was read. After voting on the 16 articles, senators immediately voted 19-11 to dismiss four remaining articles of impeachment that were related to ongoing securities fraud allegations.

That clears the way for him to return to office after being suspended without pay since late May.

“Today, the truth prevailed,” Paxton said in a statement issued immediately after the verdict. “The truth could not be buried by mudslinging politicians or their powerful benefactors.”

He called the process a “weaponization of the impeachment process” and thanked those who voted for him in the past election, the senators who “followed state law and refused to overturn an election,” and his wife, Sen. Angela Paxton.

“Now that this shameful process is over, my work to defend our constitutional rights will resume,” he said in the statement.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick scolded the House for sending the impeachment trial over to the Senate and called for a full audit of money spent on the proceedings.

“The speaker and his team rammed through the first impeachment of a statewide official in Texas in over 100 years while paying no attention to the precedent that the House set in every other impeachment before,” Patrick said.

Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement noting that the jury has spoken after Paxton received a fair trial.

“Attorney General Paxton has done an outstanding job representing Texas, especially pushing back against the Biden Administration,” Abbott said in the statement. “I look forward to continuing to work with him to secure the border and protect Texas from federal overreach.”

The Texas House Democratic Caucus issued a statement just after this votes today saying that the Senate’s “inability to see through the fog of politics does not change the facts that are now etched in the granite of the Texas Capitol.”

“The House of Representatives had a duty, required under the Constitution, to make a determination if there was sufficient evidence to support impeachment and trial by the Senate,” caucus chairman Trey Martinez Fischer said in the statement. “The evidence was clear and damning: Ken Paxton put himself before the people of Texas.”

State senators were required to vote on every charge. In no vote did they cross the two-thirds threshold required to remove Paxton from office. Paxton’s wife, a state senator, was forced to recuse herself. As the votes were counted Saturday, Sen. Paxton kept track from her desk on a green sheet of paper.

Paxton is the first impeached official in Texas to go to trial and be acquitted.

The Senate did not vote on four impeachment articles related to allegations that Paxton committed securities fraud during his time as a member of the Texas House and that he has obstructed justice by delaying a trial on charges that are more than eight years old. They voted to dismiss those articles.

Texas senators speak out on Paxton impeachment vote

The lawmakers quickly filed out of the Senate’s chambers, some visibly upset at the outcome and others delighted.

Asked if she agreed with Patrick that impeachment rules need to be changed next session to require sworn testimony before articles are passed by the House, Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, responded, “I think he’s right. I think they sent something over half-baked. And it cost taxpayers a lot of money.”

Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, however, said she was “happy” with the results.

“The burden of proof rested with the prosecution. I don’t feel they met that burden of proof,” she said.

However, Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, who supported many of the articles of impeachment, called today’s results “a travesty.”

“The office of attorney general has been removed from the boundaries of public ethics,” he said. “For all the criticisms that people wanted to level against the House for bringing this impeachment, they came here and they demonstrated clearly and unequivocally that the attorney general’s office had become a private tool for private parties. And that’s not acceptable.”

Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, voted to convict on some of the impeachment articles. He declined to comment on his votes to sustain.

“It’s time to go home,” Hancock said as he got in the driver’s seat of a car. “I have a new grandkid. He’s 3 days old.”

What led to the impeachment trial

The Texas House impeached Paxton on May 27 after an investigation that stemmed from a $3.3 million lawsuit settlement that involved several top deputies who were fired after reporting Paxton to the FBI.

The 20 articles of impeachment against Paxton included abuse of office, bribery and obstruction of justice. He was accused of trying to help thwart an FBI investigation into Nate Paul, an Austin real estate investor and campaign donor, in exchange for a home kitchen remodel and a job for a woman with whom Paxton allegedly had an affair.

The House managers who made the case against Paxton called more than a dozen witnesses over the two week trial. Neither Paxton nor Paul testified.

Reelected to a third term last year, Paxton rose to national prominence as a key ally to former President Donald Trump known for advancing conservative policies on abortion, immigration, LGBTQ rights and more.

Paxton has worked under a near constant cloud of controversy and scandal in his eight years as attorney general. The FBI is investigating him for the same corruption allegations underlying his impeachment, and he also faces state fraud charges as well as a legal ethics lawsuit.

Paxton has been suspended from duty without pay since he was impeached. His acquittal could pave the way for him to return to office after more than three months away. He cannot return to his duties as attorney general until the Senate resolves the remaining four articles of impeachment. An appointee of Gov. Abbott has served in his place.