[Breaking] Texas lawmakers IMPEACH Attorney General Ken Paxton

I still find it curious that the state of Texas hired... two flashy defense attorneys to prosecute paxton. Hence, my question... are they going against buzbee, or...

 

Trump showed the way. There's easy money to be had.

 

Plainly unethical. Her claim she has a legal obligation looks specious. And even if the law does require her to vote on the impeachment of her husband, the law is unethical. She can resign as a senator if that's what it takes to not do the plainly unethical thing. Maybe she can remain unbiased, maybe she will vote against her husband. It wouldn't matter. It has the appearance of impropriety that undermines the public trust in the process, whatever the outcome. I miss the days politicians hid their corruption. Now they do it in plain sight and dare people to call them on it -- and still get away with it.

 

If Clarence Thomas won’t recuse himself from cases where his wife and son are involved why should we expect anything more from Paxton’s wife.

That said isn’t one of the articles that he used state resources to cover up an affair? She might not be impartial in the other direction .

 

That was my only hope.

From a self dignity standpoint she should recuse herself. If she votes to acquit, she is saying she's okay. She votes against, she's broadcasting trouble.

 

early in his SC Justice career, C Thomas did recuse himself from a case citing potential conflict of interest involving his son.

But as it relates his second wife, it has been a different story

Clarence Thomas Has Recused Himself From Cases Involving His Son — But Not His Current Wife
​

 

That's just it. A vote either way could be the product of bias. She could acquit to preserve her family. She could convict to avenge an affair. Either way the public has good reason to think her vote was dirty and it impugns the whole process.

But now I feel ridiculous for saying so. We just saw 2 impeachments of Trump where he was acquited wholly for naked partisan self-interest with no regard for justice. This Texas impeachment will likewise likely be driven by political considerations and not any thoughtful weighing of the facts. So **** it, why not have her vote? It's a ****ing sham anyway.

 

He did early in his career but dropped that. In Bush v Gore his son worked for the Bush campaign, and now we know he was accepting favors from people who were also donating to Bush, yet he didn’t refuse himself.

 

The whole concept of ethics has been subsumed to partisanship.

George Washington warned of this in his farewell address.

 

May be behind a paywall, but the jist is:

The Senate voted to not allow his wife to vote

She will still be seated and counted as "present", which is the same as a "no" vote (impeachment requires 21 of 31 Senators to vote "yes")

2 other Senators have pretty massive conflicts of interest: one has represented Paxton as his personal lawyer, the other hired his mistress because Paxton wanted her in Austin (she was later hired by Nate Paul)

Both Senators are still allowed to vote even if they are called as witnesses

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/22/us/texas-paxton-impeachment-rules.html

There's about a 1% chance he gets removed from office.

 

Republicans cover each other's crimes on a daily basis. Paxton & Cruz helped Trump incite the coup with their lies & propaganda about the election being stolen.

 

Here's another report not behind a firewall: https://www.statesman.com/story/new...-removal-as-trial-set-for-sept-5/70344996007/

Interesting that lt governor gets to still be the presiding judge in this trial, even though he loaned paxton $125,000.

 

So basically Paxton's wife is automatically a vote to acquit. That doesn't seem like an ethical solution. She should recuse herself and her vote nullified.

 

Ultimately it's up to TX voters to decide if they want a one party dominance where being indicted and impeached still means someone can serve as the chief law enforcement officer of the state.

 

Why would his wife do that? Do you seriously think the woman married to a coup inspiring criminal has an ounce of integrity? I sure don't.

 

I doubt Cruz and Trump's wives are either.

 

One can hope but apparently not.