Texas Attorney General Ken PaxtonTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) was acquitted by the state Senate of all charges at his historic impeachment trial after he was impeached by a Republican-controlled House on charges of bribery, abuse of office, and obstruction.
Breaking News: Texas senators voted to acquit the state attorney general Ken Paxton in his impeachment trial. https://t.co/PDplgCBXVS
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 16, 2023
From the New York Times:
Despite a process overseen by Republicans, with Republicans in the defense and in the prosecution, the result ended in near party-line votes, with Republicans lining up behind Paxton.
Only two Republican senators voted in favor of conviction on any article. No article received even a majority vote for conviction.
Mr. Paxton, an incumbent championed by hard-core conservatives and former President Donald J. Trump, was tried on 16 articles of impeachment related to accusations, leveled primarily by former top deputies who became whistle-blowers, that Mr. Paxton had abused his office to help the real estate investor, Nate Paul, who was said to have given Mr. Paxton help with home renovations and an extramarital affair in return.
Bolding is mine.
House impeachment managers had alleged that Paul helped Paxton cover up and accommodate an affair, and helped pay for renovations to Paxton’s Austin home.
Paxton also remains under federal investigation and faces a long-delayed securities fraud trial.
A majority of Republicans in the Texas House voted in May to impeach Mr. Paxton.
16 TX Republican Senators banded together to ignore the testimony of Ken Paxton’s Republican friends, associates, appointees and employees to return the most corrupt AG in the country to power. https://t.co/vY8guykR5c
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) September 16, 2023
Texas Republican AG Ken Paxton was just acquitted on all charges of blatant clear-cut plain-to-see glaringly obvious corruption by the Texas Republicans.
Please attempt to control your surprise at this totally unexpected turn of events.
— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) September 16, 2023
Texas Senate acquits Ken Paxton. What’s amazing is how the Republicans have lost control of their own membership. They impeached Paxton because they had the votes to convict, but then they lost the votes. The consistent GOP theme across the nation is chaotic collapse from within.
— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) September 16, 2023