This just in: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been acquitted on all 16 articles of impeachment.
In a dramatic loss for the Texas House of Representatives, the Texas Senate did not sustain any of the articles of impeachment against Attorney General Ken Paxton, triggering his reinstatement to office after nearly a four-month suspension.
The House Board of Managers needed to convince 21 senators to sustain at least one of the charges. The Senate’s court of impeachment sustained none of the charges, granting a full acquittal to Paxton to resume his position as the duly elected attorney general.
Most of the charges were dismissed by a vote of 14 to 16.
After the vote concluded, Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) made a motion to dismiss the four articles of impeachment that had been held in abeyance and were not considered in the Senate’s impeachment trial proceedings. The motion passed by a vote of 19 to 11.
Paxton slammed the Texas House and Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) in a statement celebrating the acquittals.
“The weaponization of the impeachment process to settle political differences is not only wrong, it is immoral and corrupt,” Paxton said.
“Now that this shameful process is over, my work to defend our constitutional rights will resume. Thank you to everyone who has stood with us during this time.”
The attorney general thanked his wife, Sen. Angela Paxton (R-McKinney), and his other supporters.
Patrick had his own criticisms of Phelan and the House after the acquittals were announced.
“Millions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted on this impeachment!” Patrick exclaimed from the dais.
The lieutenant governor called for amendments to the Texas Constitution to prevent the hasty impeachment of an elected official based on unsworn testimony, among other recommendations.
A few moments later, Patrick signed the documents reinstating Paxton as attorney general and dissolved the Senate’s court of impeachment.
It became apparent in the trial that the allegations against Paxton were unsupported.
The next step should be that every Republican who voted to impeach Paxton in the House or Senate needs to be primaried.
And Dade Phelan should be at the top of that list.