September 16, 2023

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Ken Paxton is Texas’s attorney general. In terms of pursuing policies for the state, he has been consistently very conservative: Among other things, he challenged Obamacare, he’s pro-life (or, as it’s now being termed, pro-baby), he worked to stop local governments in Texas from mandating lockdowns, he’s pro-Second Amendment, he’s fought the open border and human trafficking, he’s pushed back against climate change madness, and he’s tried to stem LGBTQ+ extremism. In other words, he’s one of the good guys…so he was impeached. However, today, Paxton was acquitted on all charges. This closes another chapter in the civil war raging within the Republican party.

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If you haven’t followed the case, here’s a very summary account of what happened: In February 2023, Paxton asked for more money for his office, some of which would cover a settlement that whistleblowers had brought against him. That request resulted in an investigation that triggered the impeachment. There was a personal element to the impeachment because Paxton had accused Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan of showing up intoxicated and demanded an investigation and Phelan’s resignation:

I have no idea what was behind Phelan’s peculiar performance. I do remember from my time at the UT Law School in Austin that the rumor amongst the students was that the legislature was a hard-drinking institution, but that was a long time ago.

The impeachment laid against Paxton was predicted on 20 separate charges revolving around claims that he accepted bribes from and tried to protect a donor, fired whistleblowers, tried to cover up that firing, and wanted to use taxpayer funds to cover the eventual settlement, along with miscellaneous other charges.