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The '''Paxton Impeachment''' is the ongoing current [[impeachment and removal|impeachment and proposed removal]] of [[conservative]] [[Texas]] Attorney General [[Ken Paxton]] from office. The trial in the Texas Senate is to begin at 9AM (Austin time) on September 5, 2023.  [[Conservative]] Senators Bob Hall and Angela Paxton objected to the biased Senate rules adopted for this trial, as did Democrat senator.

The '''Paxton Impeachment''' is the ongoing current [[impeachment and removal|impeachment and proposed removal]] of [[conservative]] [[Texas]] Attorney General [[Ken Paxton]] from office.

 

After a two-month investigation by the Texas House Committee on General Investigating, brought on by allegations that Paxton misused his political office for his personal benefit and that of a political donor, the House vote 121-23 (with two members, one from each party, declaring themselves Present Not Voting) to impeach Paxton; this action automatically caused Paxton to be suspended from office without pay or benefits pending the trial to permanently remove him from office and disqualify him from future state or local office.<ref>Paxton cannot, however, be prohibited from running for a Federal office if he were to consider such in the future.</ref>

 

After considerable debate regarding the rules for the upcoming trial, the Texas Senate voted 27-3 to begin the trial at 9AM (Austin time) on September 5, 2023.  

The events surrounding this impeachment have occurred amid an alleged pattern of other purported political misuse of prosecutorial power, such as the indictment against [[Donald Trump]] (which took place on the same day that a key figure in the Paxton impeachment was arrested on Federal charges).  Even the [[liberal]] ''[[New York Times]]'' observed that impeachment of Paxton was “unexpected — as of a week ago [prior to the vote to impeach] there was little public indication that an impeachment could be imminent.”<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/28/us/texas-republicans-ken-paxton-legislature.html</ref>

The events surrounding this impeachment have occurred amid an alleged pattern of other purported political misuse of prosecutorial power, such as the indictment against [[Donald Trump]] (which took place on the same day that a key figure in the Paxton impeachment was arrested on Federal charges).  Even the [[liberal]] ''[[New York Times]]'' observed that impeachment of Paxton was “unexpected — as of a week ago [prior to the vote to impeach] there was little public indication that an impeachment could be imminent.”<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/28/us/texas-republicans-ken-paxton-legislature.html</ref>

It should be noted that, except for the May 28 action, every action taken by the General Investigating Committee was a unanimous 5-0 vote (the May 28 action was 4-0 with Representative Longoria being absent).

It should be noted that, except for the May 28 action, every action taken by the General Investigating Committee was a unanimous 5-0 vote (the May 28 action was 4-0 with Representative Longoria being absent).

==Senate Action==

==Senate Action==

Governor Abbott has not publicly commented on the matter.  His only action has been to appoint John Scott, a former Deputy Attorney General and a former Secretary of State, as the interim replacement for Paxton.<ref>https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-appoints-john-scott-as-interim-attorney-general-of-texas</ref> Notwithstanding that Scott is politically loyal to Abbott, one of his first actions was to continue Paxton's policy of suing the Biden Administration for Federal overreach, this time over its attempts to rewrite Title IX to force schools to adopt favorable pro-transgender policies or lose Federal education funding.<ref>https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/texas-launches-lawsuit-against-bidens-unlawful-title-ix-guidance-forcing-transgender-policies</ref>

Governor Abbott has not publicly commented on the matter.  His only action has been to appoint John Scott, a former Deputy Attorney General and a former Secretary of State, as the interim replacement for Paxton.<ref>https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-appoints-john-scott-as-interim-attorney-general-of-texas</ref> Notwithstanding that Scott is politically loyal to Abbott, one of his first actions was to continue Paxton's policy of suing the Biden Administration for Federal overreach, this time over its attempts to rewrite Title IX to force schools to adopt favorable pro-transgender policies or lose Federal education funding.<ref>https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/texas-launches-lawsuit-against-bidens-unlawful-title-ix-guidance-forcing-transgender-policies</ref>

== Retaliation by [[Gambling]] Industry? ==

=== Retaliation by [[Gambling]] Industry? ===

Besides the Committee, one of the notable speakers in favor of the impeachment was Representative Jeff Leach, a fellow Republican from Collin County, who would be later named as one of the 12 managers for the upcoming trial.  Leach also chaired the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence, which as mentioned earlier has oversight of OAG.

Besides the Committee, one of the notable speakers in favor of the impeachment was Representative Jeff Leach, a fellow Republican from Collin County, who would be later named as one of the 12 managers for the upcoming trial.  Leach also chaired the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence, which as mentioned earlier has oversight of OAG.

At a recent fundraiser attended by some pro-gambling interests, speakers blamed Paxton for supposedly blocking the gambling bills from passing, and the speakers demanded that he must be removed as Attorney General.  The gambling market in Texas is expected to be worth billions of dollars if increased legalized gambling were legalized there, and it is not as if Texas needs the increased revenue: the Comptroller of Public Accounts estimated that for the upcoming biennium (the two year period beginning September 1, 2023 and ending August 31, 2025) the state would have a '''''$32.7 billion surplus''''', the largest in Texas' history.<ref>Based on that estimate, the Legislature passed several bills which reduced taxes, such as removing the sales tax on various baby items (e.g. diapers and baby bottles, even including maternity clothes and breast milk pumps) and female menstrual products (a long-standing wish by feminist organizations, which finally received enough conservative support to pass this session), as well as exempting certain items from property tax such as fertilizer, pesticides, and rainwater harvesting structures.  These actions -- which passed both chambers by significant bipartisan votes -- clearly would not have been taken if the Legislature had concerns about adequate revenue for operations.  Further, the Legislature is attempting to lower overall property taxes; though the chambers disagree as to approach, again these actions would not be taken if the Legislature had concerns about adequate revenue.</ref>

At a recent fundraiser attended by some pro-gambling interests, speakers blamed Paxton for supposedly blocking the gambling bills from passing, and the speakers demanded that he must be removed as Attorney General.  The gambling market in Texas is expected to be worth billions of dollars if increased legalized gambling were legalized there, and it is not as if Texas needs the increased revenue: the Comptroller of Public Accounts estimated that for the upcoming biennium (the two year period beginning September 1, 2023 and ending August 31, 2025) the state would have a '''''$32.7 billion surplus''''', the largest in Texas' history.<ref>Based on that estimate, the Legislature passed several bills which reduced taxes, such as removing the sales tax on various baby items (e.g. diapers and baby bottles, even including maternity clothes and breast milk pumps) and female menstrual products (a long-standing wish by feminist organizations, which finally received enough conservative support to pass this session), as well as exempting certain items from property tax such as fertilizer, pesticides, and rainwater harvesting structures.  These actions -- which passed both chambers by significant bipartisan votes -- clearly would not have been taken if the Legislature had concerns about adequate revenue for operations.  Further, the Legislature is attempting to lower overall property taxes; though the chambers disagree as to approach, again these actions would not be taken if the Legislature had concerns about adequate revenue.</ref>

== Dick Weekley ==

=== Dick Weekley ===

Dick Weekley is a [[Houston]] real estate oligarch, co-founder (with brother David) of '''David Weekley Homes''', one of the largest builders of tract homes in Texas.  He is also the chairman and CEO of '''[https://www.tortreform.com/ Texans for Lawsuit Reform]''', a pro-business think tank with [https://tlrpac.org/ an associated political action committee] and [https://www.tlrfoundation.org/ an associated 501(c)(3) foundation] which has had success in changing the legal landscape of Texas law and courts, namely a controversial $250,000 cap on non-economic damages which can be awarded in a civil lawsuit.

Dick Weekley is a [[Houston]] real estate oligarch, co-founder (with brother David) of '''David Weekley Homes''', one of the largest builders of tract homes in Texas.  He is also the chairman and CEO of '''[https://www.tortreform.com/ Texans for Lawsuit Reform]''', a pro-business think tank with [https://tlrpac.org/ an associated political action committee] and [https://www.tlrfoundation.org/ an associated 501(c)(3) foundation] which has had success in changing the legal landscape of Texas law and courts, namely a controversial $250,000 cap on non-economic damages which can be awarded in a civil lawsuit.

Weekley was a big supporter of Eva Guzman in the March 2022 primary, whom Paxton defeated by a landslide.<ref>https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/12/texas-eva-guzman-attorney-general-fundraising/</ref>  Weekley may have felt humiliated by how his candidate received only 17.5% (third behind Paxton and Bush, only ahead of Gohmert) of the vote in running against Paxton in that primary.<ref>https://ballotpedia.org/Texas_Attorney_General_election,_2022_(March_1_Republican_primary)</ref>  Weekley apparently poured more than $5 million from himself (more than $1M), the Texans for Lawsuit Reform organization he controls (more than $3M), and wealthy donors he directs (e.g., Jan E. Duncan), into supporting Guzman in that failed attempt to defeat Paxton in his March 2022 primary.<ref>https://ballotpedia.org/Eva_Guzman</ref>

Weekley was a big supporter of Eva Guzman in the March 2022 primary, whom Paxton defeated by a landslide.<ref>https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/12/texas-eva-guzman-attorney-general-fundraising/</ref>  Weekley may have felt humiliated by how his candidate received only 17.5% (third behind Paxton and Bush, only ahead of Gohmert) of the vote in running against Paxton in that primary.<ref>https://ballotpedia.org/Texas_Attorney_General_election,_2022_(March_1_Republican_primary)</ref>  Weekley apparently poured more than $5 million from himself (more than $1M), the Texans for Lawsuit Reform organization he controls (more than $3M), and wealthy donors he directs (e.g., Jan E. Duncan), into supporting Guzman in that failed attempt to defeat Paxton in his March 2022 primary.<ref>https://ballotpedia.org/Eva_Guzman</ref>

== Karl Rove ==

=== Karl Rove ===

On February 10, 2022, before Paxton's reelection by 800,000 votes, blogger Imil Amani wrote, "Karl Rove and the Bushes despise Ken Paxton. They will do anything and at all cost to remove Texas’s best Attorney General from office."<ref>https://granitegrok.com/blog/2022/02/texans-must-reelect-ken-paxton</ref>

On February 10, 2022, before Paxton's reelection by 800,000 votes, blogger Imil Amani wrote, "Karl Rove and the Bushes despise Ken Paxton. They will do anything and at all cost to remove Texas’s best Attorney General from office."<ref>https://granitegrok.com/blog/2022/02/texans-must-reelect-ken-paxton</ref>