1 year ago
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas’ GOP-led House of Representatives launched historic impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday as the scandal-plagued Republican called on supporters to protest a vote that could lead to his ouster and Donald Trump came to his defense.
The House convened Saturday afternoon to debate whether to impeach and suspend Paxton from office over allegations of bribery, abuse of public trust and that he is unfit for office. They’re just some of the accusations that have trailed Texas’ top lawyer for most of his three terms.
The proceedings are expected to include opening statements from the committee that investigated Paxton and recommended his impeachment, followed by four hours of debate and closing remarks before the vote.
The hearing sets 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 President Joe Biden's electoral defeat of Trump. Only two officials in Texas’ nearly 200-year history have been impeached.
Paxton, 60, has called the impeachment proceedings “political theater” based on “hearsay and gossip, parroting long-disproven claims,” and an attempt to disenfranchise voters who reelected him in November. On Friday, he asked supporters "to peacefully come let their voices be heard at the Capitol tomorrow.”
About an hour before the scheduled vote, several hundred peopl...
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