Washington, DC — As suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial is set to start next month, the Wall Street Journal published, “Messrs. Paxton and Paul deny all wrongdoing. Mr. Paxton showed his good character by using taxpayer dollars to pay for an outside law firm to prepare a report disputing the validity of the charges.”

“The highest-profile impeachment trial of a statewide official since that of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2009 will kick off Sept. 5. That’s when the Texas Senate will try Attorney General Ken Paxton, whom the state House voted 121-23 to impeach in May. More than 70% of GOP representatives voted to impeach their fellow Republican, including all five GOP members from his home county,” writes Karl Rove.

“Mr. Paxton’s forgiveness-doctrine defense is factually wrong as well. While some of this sprawling scandal was public before the election, lots of new allegations have turned up since then. In June a federal grand jury indicted Mr. Paul on eight counts of making false statements to banks—the shenanigans for which Mr. Paxton allegedly provided ‘favorable legal assistance’ to erase Mr. Paul’s financial problems.” 

“Moreover, one of the House’s most explosive allegations was unknown prior to the 2022 election. Allegedly, Mr. Paxton violated the laws governing prosecutor appointments in 2020 by hiring a junior lawyer with no prosecutorial experience, who then issued 39 grand-jury subpoenas to Mr. Paul’s creditors and critics, including law enforcement and prosecutors investigating the developer. Then Mr. Paxton allegedly lied about it.”

“We’ve also learned more about the Paxton-Paul relationship. On Wednesday the House alleged that Mr. Paul set up an Uber account under an alias that Mr. Paxton then used to visit the apartment complex where his mistress lived.” 

“When he won his third term as attorney general last fall, Mr. Paxton said, ‘The reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.’ Maybe, but they might have been simply premature.”

 Paxton lied and defrauded taxpayers. Paxton’s impeachment is long-overdue. We’ve said long ago that he’s unfit to be Texas’ Attorney General — and even Texas Republicans agree.

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