As the Texas Senate’s historic impeachment trial got underway on Tuesday, Attorney General Ken Paxton entered a not-guilty plea to 20 articles of impeachment that included accusations of corruption, abuse of the public trust, improper use of public funds, and more.
Because of his connections to real estate developer and fundraiser Nate Paul, the Republican firebrand was overthrown in May by a resounding majority of the House of Representatives, which is under Republican control. His fate will now be decided by the state Senate, which has been called to act as a high court of impeachment.
The Texas senators were sworn in as jurors on Tuesday morning in front of 200 onlookers, including members of the public and the media, in the Senate gallery above, before the Republican Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, who is presiding over the proceedings, moved on to pre-trial arguments.
More than a dozen motions requesting the dismissal of the articles of impeachment or bar consideration of certain evidence were submitted by Paxton’s attorneys, but all of them were rejected on Tuesday morning when up to 12 Republican senators joined the Democratic senators in opposing the motions.
However, Paxton scored a significant victory on Tuesday when the lieutenant governor, who alone has the authority to resolve procedural issues in accordance with Senate-approved procedures, ruled that Paxton could not be coerced into testifying against himself.
Although they stated in a document that they anticipated the attorney general would exercise his right not to self-incriminate, House impeachment managers had sought to compel him to be called to the witness stand.
The historic trial marks a stunning downfall for a man who rose to national prominence as a leader of red-state resistance to President Barack Obama’s policies on everything from health care to immigration and who later became a significant conservative ally of Donald Trump while he was in the White House. Paxton has pledged to contest the claims and has refuted all misconduct.
A few of the more than 100 witnesses who have been subpoenaed to testify showed up Tuesday at the Senate door. Two cited a Patrick-issued gag order surrounding the case as their reason for not to talk.
Paul, the developer and philanthropist from whom Paxton is accused of collecting payments, and current and former employees of the attorney general’s office, some of whom urged the FBI he should be looked into for bribery and abuse of authority, are reportedly among the prospective witnesses. The Dallas Morning News, which obtained the confidential witness, reported that George P. Bush, the attorney general’s primary opponent in 2022, and even renowned Texas political strategist Karl Rove are both on the list of potential witnesses, along with Laura Olson, the woman with whom Paxton is allegedly having an extramarital affair.
The fact that the attorney general’s spouse, state senator Angela Paxton, and state senator Bryan Hughes were on the original witness lists served as a reminder of how deeply political and personal the proceedings are inside the Texas Republican Party. According to The Dallas Morning News, Angela Paxton was later dismissed despite being required to attend her husband’s impeachment trial but unable to vote.
The trial is not a criminal one. Not a civil trial, this one. This summer, Patrick told a local television station, Fox 26 Houston, that the trial was a political one.
Trump and Paxton’s backers have already vowed political retaliation if Paxton is removed from office.
During Paxton’s impeachment hearings in the Texas House, Trump posted on Truth Social, “Hopefully Republicans in the Texas House are going to agree that this is an extremely unfair process that ought not to be allowed to take place or proceed — I will fight you if it does.”
The president of the extreme right’s Defend Texas Liberty PAC, Jonathan Stickland, recently made an appearance on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast alongside Lauren Davis, a prospective Dallas County GOP chair candidate. The two enlisted support from viewers to exert pressure on a dozen particular Republican senators to vote in opposition to impeachment.
Stickland said on the program, “We’re investing millions of dollars.” Anyone who votes to remove Ken Paxton from office runs the risk of losing their entire political career, so we will make sure of that.
In an effort to have the Senate toss out the articles of impeachment, some Paxton supporters also attended.
Kaci Sisk, president of the Bulverde Spring Branch Conservative Republicans, stated, “They’re trying to overturn our votes. He got elected by us. Just after six in the morning, Sisk and members of her organization came to the Capitol wearing identical red shirts to stand in line for seats in the Senate gallery.
“We don’t care, we do not care. Knowing everything, we chose him,” Sisk stated. We have never had a better attorney general than him. He is incredibly significant to this nation as well as the state of Texas. He sets the example for this nation.