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Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is facing an impeachment vote from the Texas House on Saturday, following a House committee’s months-long investigation into misconduct.
On Thursday, the bipartisan, but Republican-led General Investigating Committee unanimously recommended that Paxton be impeached and removed from office, over allegations of bribery, obstruction of justice and other abuses throughout his years in office. House Republicans have brought forth 20 articles of impeachment in total.
Paxton has denied any wrongdoing and invited Texans to the capitol to “peacefully” protest what he called the “political theater.” The case is the first impeachment hearing of a state official in the House in almost 50 years.
Here’s what to know:
Who is Ken Paxton?
Paxton joined the Texas political landscape in 2002 as a Republican after winning a seat in the House. He went on to spend 12 years in the legislature. In 2014 when Texas Governor Greg Abott vacated his role as the state’s attorney general, Paxton ran for the open position, winning by a landslide.
As attorney general, Paxton has been a driving force behind Texas’s culture wars. Over the years, he’s strongly allied himself with hard-line conservatives and former president Donald Trump. Paxton was involved in Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential election results, as well as other legal challenges against the Biden administration and efforts to loosen migration and border restrictions. Paxton was re-elected for a third term in November by a sizable majority.
Paxton has spent most of his tenure as attorney general under investigation. His first year on the job in 2015, he received felony charges over securities fraud for allegedly misleading investors.
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