Impeached Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton The Texas House of Representatives has vote 121-23 to impeach Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The vote means Paxton is suspended from office as the matter moves into the Senate where a two-thirds vote is necessary to convict Paxton, which would permanently remove him from the office of attorney general and bar him from holding future elected office in Texas The vote to adopt the 20 articles of impeachment — including bribery, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice — comes following testimony earlier this week from investigators appointed by the House General Investigating Committee after Paxton pushed to have the state pay $3.3 million to settle a lawsuit filed by whistleblowers who claim Paxton fired them in retaliation after they went to the U.S Department of Justice in 2020 with concerns regarding Paxton’s potential abuse of public office.
Investigators told the committee, during a public hearing on May 24, that Paxton had probably violated the law and that the settlement was an attempt to avoid him having to testify during a trial and turn over certain evidence.
The committee then voted to recommend the House impeach the attorney general. Today’s vote followed a four-hour impeachment hearing.