When Republicans turn on each other, they go all in. Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, already under a years-old state indictment for financial fraud, will likely face an impeachment vote on the floor of the state house after a House committee referred articles, the Texas Tribune reports.
The move comes amid allegations of frequent abuse of power in the Attorney General’s office, including Paxton using his office to benefit his friends and enrich himself financially. Four former lawyers in Paxton’s office testified during a three-hour hearing, telling committee members about “a yearslong pattern of misconduct and questionable actions by Paxton, which included criminal charges for securities fraud and allegations by his former top deputies that Paxton used his office to benefit a friend and political donor,” per the Tribune.
The allegations described in the hearing were widely known and previously reported, but the extensive airing of the claims illustrates how deep the effort to expel Paxton is. The GOP infighting explains why Paxton called for state house Speaker Dade Phelan to step down after he led a legislative session apparently intoxicated.