Money And Scandal

He called for the resignation of the speaker of the house for being drunk. Paxton was already mad at the speaker because he opposed Paxton’s desire to pay his $3.3M settlement with taxpayer money. It’s a big ol fight.

— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) May 25, 2023

Details here:

A Texas House committee voted unanimously to recommend that AG Ken Paxton be impeached and removed from office.

The House will next decide whether to approve the articles, which could lead to Paxton’s removal pending the outcome of a Senate trial.

https://t.co/SlTVckhx6m pic.twitter.com/5Y2vVuj9yv

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) May 25, 2023

So I’ll take that as read and move on to answering emptywheel’s question. And the answer is simple: money and scandal. (And it has nothing to do with the Speaker. That was started by Paxton after he got wind of the investigation. Too late to do anything about it.)

Paxton did a lot of untoward favors for a rich Austin developer (as in using his agency to investigate claims of a conspiracy against said developer, by said developer. Maybe a criminal matter, but the Texas AG has no criminal prosecution authority) back in the day. That led to charges of corruption by several AG employees who either quit or were fired (yes, I’m restating things, but I need to), a civil suit, and a settlement of $3 million and change.

Paxton went to the Lege this session to get the payment authorized. Now he’s asking for money to pay off whistleblowers (who, by state law, should be paid by the state) for exposing his corrupt dealings.

Scandal. And money. (There are other scandals for Paxton that this brings attention to. But that just makes this precipitating scandal worse.)

Texas voters don’t pay attention to much. But they pay attention to money and scandal. Especially state money and state scandal. The House committee started this investigation when Paxton came to them asking for the money. They did it in secret so Paxton couldn’t intimidate witnesses or make back room deals. They knew they couldn’t justify the payment, so they had to investigate Paxton. (And to repeat, that’s why it’s not connected to Phelan. That’s Paxton’s misdirection, nothing more.)

Money; and scandal. Real easy to understand. Real hard to defend Paxton this time.

Not that the Lege ever had to before. Paxton holds his official by election, not by appointment. His scandals were his own. They never reached the Lege until he asked for money.

And that forced them to pay attention. And refuse responsibility for his abuses of office; which are now grounds for his impeachment and removal from office. 

All it takes is a majority in each house; and they can stay in session past Monday (sine die for the regular session) for as long as necessary to take care of it. Or they can come back later, on their own initiative.

My money is on Paxton being out of office before August. Maybe before July.

Certainly before September. I don’t think either house wants to sleep on this.