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[Breaking] Texas lawmakers IMPEACH Attorney General Ken Paxton

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by Xerobull, May 25, 2023.

  1. Xerobull

    Xerobull You son of a b!tch! I'm in!
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    Texas lawmakers issue 20 articles of impeachment against Attorney General Ken Paxton


    ByJake BleibergandAcacia Coronado11 minutes ago


    [​IMG]

    AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas lawmakers issued 20 articles of impeachment against state Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday night, ranging from bribery to abuse of public trust as state Republicans surged toward a swift and sudden vote that could remove him from office.

    The charges were released hours after a Republican-led House investigative committee recommended impeaching the state’s top lawyer. The House could vote on the recommendation as soon as Friday. If it impeaches Paxton, he would be forced to leave office immediately.

    Most of the impeachment charges stem from Paxton’s relationship with one of his wealthy donors, Austin real estate developer Nate Paul. Those include alleged efforts to protect Paul from a federal investigation, and Paxton’s own attempts to thwart whistleblower complaints brought by his own staff.

    THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

    AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton teetered on the brink of impeachment Thursday after years of scandal, criminal charges and corruption accusations that the state’s Republican majority had largely met with silence until now.

    In an unanimous decision, a Republican-led House investigative committee that spent months quietly looking into Paxton recommended impeaching the state’s top lawyer. The House could vote on the recommendation as soon as Friday. If it impeaches Paxton, he would be forced to leave office immediately.

    The move sets set up what could be a remarkably sudden downfall for one of the GOP’s most prominent legal combatants, who in 2020 asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Joe Biden’s victory. Only two officials in Texas’ nearly 200-year history have been impeached.

    Paxton has been under FBI investigation for years over accusations that he used his office to help a donor and was separately indicted on securities fraud charges in 2015, but has yet to stand trial.

    When the five-member committee’s investigation came to light Tuesday, Paxton suggested it was a political attack by the House’s “liberal” Republican speaker, Dade Phelan. He called for Phelan’s resignation and accused him of being drunk during a marathon session last Friday. Phelan’s office has brushed off the accusation as Paxton attempting to “save face.”

    “It’s is a sad day for Texas as we witness the corrupt political establishment unite in this illegitimate attempt to overthrow the will of the people and disenfranchise the voters of our state,” Paxton said in a statement Thursday, calling the committee’s findings “hearsay and gossip, parroting long-disproven claims.”

    By moving against him, Paxton said, “The RINOs in the Texas Legislature are now on the same side as Joe Biden.”

    Impeachment requires a majority vote of the state’s usually 150-member House chamber, which Republicans now control 85-64, since a GOP representative resigned ahead of an expected vote to expel him over the finding that he had inappropriate sexual conduct with an intern.

    It’s unclear how many supporters Paxton may have in the House. Since the prospect of impeachment suddenly emerged Wednesday, none of Texas other top Republicans have voiced support for Paxton.

    Investigative committee members, which include three Republicans and two Democrats, did not reveal details about the articles of impeachment when they voted to approve them in open session and a copy had not been made public by Thursday evening.

    The timing of a vote by the House also is unclear. Rep. Andrew Murr, the Republican chair of the investigative committee, said he did not have a timeline and Phelan’s office declined to comment.

    Unlike in Congress, impeachment in Texas requires immediate removal from office until a trial is held in the Senate. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott could appoint an interim replacement. Final removal would require two-thirds support in the Senate, where Paxton’s wife’s, Angela, is a member.

    Paxton, 60, faces ouster at the hands of GOP lawmakers just seven months after easily winning a third term over challengers — among them George P. Bush — who had urged voters to reject a compromised incumbent but discovered that many didn’t know about Paxton’s litany of alleged misdeeds or dismissed the accusations as political attacks.

    Even with Monday’s end of the regular session approaching, state law allows the House to keep working on impeachment proceedings. It also could call itself back into session later. The Senate has the same options.

    In one sense, Paxton’s political peril arrived with dizzying speed: The House committee investigation came to light Tuesday, followed the next day by an extraordinary public airing of alleged criminal acts he committed as one of Texas’ most powerful figures.

    But to Paxton’s detractors, who now include a widening share of his own party in the Texas Capitol, the rebuke was years in the making.

    In 2014, he admitted to violating Texas securities law over not registering as an investment advisor while soliciting clients. A year later, Paxton was indicted on felony securities charges by a grand jury in his hometown near Dallas, where he was accused of defrauding investors in a tech startup. He has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts that carry a potential sentence of five to 99 years in prison.

    He opened a legal defense fund and accepted $100,000 from an executive whose company was under investigation by Paxton’s office for Medicaid fraud. An additional $50,000 was donated by an Arizona retiree whose son Paxton later hired to a high-ranking job but was soon fired after trying to make a point by displaying child p*rnography in a meeting.

    What has unleashed the most serious risk to Paxton is his relationship with another wealthy donor, Austin real estate developer Nate Paul.

    Several of Paxton’s top aides in 2020 said they became concerned the attorney general was misusing the powers of his office to help Paul over unproven claims that an elaborate conspiracy to steal $200 million of his properties was afoot. The FBI searched Paul’s home in 2019 but he has not been charged and his attorneys have denied wrongdoing. Paxton also told staff members that he had an affair with a woman who, it later emerged, worked for Paul.

    Paxton’s aides accused him of corruption and were all fired or quit after reporting him to the FBI. Four sued under Texas’ whistleblower laws, accusing Paxton of wrongful retaliation, and in February agreed to settle the case for $3.3 million. But the Texas House must approve the payout and Phelan has said he doesn’t think taxpayers should foot the bill.

    Shortly after the settlement was reached, the House investigation into Paxton began. The probe amounted to rare scrutiny of Paxton in the state Capitol, where many Republicans have long taken a muted posture about the accusations that have followed the attorney general.

    Only twice has the Texas House impeached a sitting official: Gov. James Ferguson in 1917 and state Judge O.P. Carrillo in 1975.
     
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  2. CCorn

    CCorn Member

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  3. Andre0087

    Andre0087 Member

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    Do they have enough time to even do this? I love it but don't wanna wait until the next session for action to be taken.
     
  4. Xerobull

    Xerobull You son of a b!tch! I'm in!
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    If they’re doing it, it’s a win somehow for the GOP.
     
  5. MadMax

    MadMax Member

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    Insanely overdue
     
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  6. Major

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    I think they are hoping to do it tomorrow. The Speaker and Paxton hate each other, so I don't think he wants to wait.
     
  7. Buck Turgidson

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    Right!

    I may have said something about this before. Or not.
     
  8. Buck Turgidson

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    You're due for hearing this song, and this album...

    Just because you need to
     
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  9. astros123

    astros123 Member

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    Republicans don't just wake up and decide to be saints. There's something shaddy going on with this
     
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  10. Reeko

    Reeko Member

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    He has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts that carry a potential sentence of five to 99 years in prison.

    I’ve never seen a sentence with a range like that

    “I sentence u to 5 to life”
     
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  11. DatRocketFan

    DatRocketFan Member

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    Only two folks got impeached In Texas history, wonder who Paxton pissed off for the gop to turn on one of their own. It's not for Intergrity/moral reasons that's for sure since it took this long for them to do something about this corrupt fool
     
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  12. DonnyMost

    DonnyMost Membar
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    What are the odds of this actually happening?
     
  13. MadMax

    MadMax Member

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    Remember those Wemby actuarial tables?
     
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  14. DonnyMost

    DonnyMost Membar
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    lol :(
     
    MadMax likes this.
  15. rocketsjudoka

    rocketsjudoka Member
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    The TX House did kick out a member last month so it could be finally that they’ve realized things have gone too far. I hope this happens but given the history of impeachments not holding my breath.

    I’m still troubled that he was re-elected in the first place.
     
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  16. Buck Turgidson

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    Bryan Slaton...regular ol' republican sexual predator from east of Dallas

    https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/09/bryan-slaton-expel-house-vote/
     
    #16 Buck Turgidson, May 26, 2023
    Last edited: May 26, 2023
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  17. Buck Turgidson

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    fiddy/fiddy?

    The guy is so blatantly corrupt it's mind-boggling that it's taken this long.
     
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  18. ROCKSS

    ROCKSS Member

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    As much as I know Paxton should go down, do we really think a gop controlled majority will actually do something "RIGHT"........I have ZERO faith they will follow through. The GOP have already shown that power is more important than integrity.
     
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  19. Buck Turgidson

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  20. Major

    Major Member

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    I think the House will impeach him. In Texas, the Senate is the more extreme body, so it's unclear whether they'll ultimately convinct in trial. But Paxton has to leave office in the interim if the House does their part, and who knows when the trial would be.
     

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