GOP split in Texas blows wide open with drunkenness charges

The barely concealed contempt that has been brewing for months among the top Republicans in Texas came out on the open this week when indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton accused the Texas House speaker of carrying out his duties while intoxicated. and called for the speaker’s resignation. .

The move on Tuesday sent a shock through Austin. Then, less than an hour later, word came that Mr. Paxton may have had a personal motive for attacking the speaker, Dade Phelan: A House committee had subpoenaed documents from Mr. Paxton’s office, as part of an investigation at the request of the Attorney General. for $3.3 million in state money to settle corruption charges against him by his own former high-ranking aides.

The House panel — the general inquiry committee — met Wednesday morning to discuss Mr. Paxton; the allegations against him, which came in 2020; and the allegations of retaliation by aides who spoke out on the case and were subsequently fired, forced to leave, or resigned.

The vile accusations brought to mind an earlier era of bizarre behavior and political posturing in the state capitol. But the tangled web of resentment and finger-pointing also exposed a much simpler and more consistent political reality in Texas: While they have total control over the legislature and over every state office, Republicans haven’t agreed on what to do. do with their power.

The internal disagreement came out in dramatic fashion on Tuesday.

“It is with deep disappointment that I call on Speaker Dade Phelan to step down at the end of this legislature,” Mr Paxton said in a statement. “Texans were aghast to witness his performance as Speaker of the Texas House in a state of apparent debilitating drunkenness.”

Mr. Paxton posted an image of a letter he had sent on Tuesday asking the general commission of inquiry to investigate possible violations.

Just as that committee was getting ready to hold its meeting on Mr Paxton’s case on Tuesday, the Attorney General made his accusations against Mr Phelan, 47. He did so on the basis of video circulating online of a late-night session of the Texas House on Friday. At about 5 hours and 29 minutes in an official house videoMr. Phelan seems to slur his words as he speaks.

Some people in the House Chamber on Friday said they saw no issues with Mr Phelan’s behavior, even though his speech sounded slurred in part of the video, which came towards the end of more than 12 hours on hearings and voting overseen by Mr. Phelan that day.

Representative Jarvis Johnson, a Democrat from Houston, spoke in the House just after the moment shown in the clip. He said Wednesday that he had not noticed any unusual behavior from Mr. Phelan.

Mr Phelan did not respond directly to Mr Paxton’s accusations. Still, they underlined the extent to which his leadership of the Texas House has enraged far-right lawmakers and conservative activists, a wing of the Texas Republican Party with whom Paxton has long been associated. They have complained that Mr. Phelan has blocked or diluted their priorities – on law enforcement at the border, government money for private school vouchers or displaying the Ten Commandments in public schools.

The Texas House often acted as a relatively moderate Republican bulwark against the most conservative instincts of the party’s right wing, to the consternation of some in Austin and the relief of others.

The investigation into Mr. Paxton added an unusual element to the usual power struggle.

A spokeswoman for Mr Phelan said it was the recent movement in the inquiry, which had begun earlier in the Legislative Session, that had prompted Mr Paxton’s charges – specifically new summonses to the Attorney General’s office and a letter to Mr. Paxton asking him to hold documents in what the committee calls “Case A”.

“The commission is conducting a thorough investigation into the events related to the whistleblowers’ firing, in addition to Ken Paxton’s alleged unlawful conduct,” spokeswoman Cait Wittman said late Tuesday. “The minutes of the committee show that summonses have been issued. Mr. Paxton’s statement today amounts to little more than a last ditch effort to save face.’

Four of Mr. Paxton’s top aides have expressed concerns about his activities to the FBI and the Texas Rangers. All four were fired.

The assistants – Ryan Vassar, Mark Penley, James Blake Brickman and David Maxwell – are all former deputy attorneys general, and Mr. Maxwell is a former director of the bureau’s law enforcement division. They have told investigators that Mr Paxton may have committed crimes including bribery and abuse of office. They also charged Mr. Paxton; the case is pending.

Mr. Paxton has asked the state to pay $3.3 million to settle the lawsuit. Mr Phelan has said he did not believe the House vote was needed to approve the payment; he also said that he was not behind it himself.

“I don’t think this is the proper use of taxpayers’ money,” Phelan said in a television interview in February.

Several Republican lawmakers approached for comment on Tuesday declined to discuss the topic of Mr Paxton’s allegations. Representative Chris Turner, a Democrat from the Dallas area, said that because of the allegations against Mr. Paxton, the Attorney General was “the last person” who “should call on everyone to resign.”

“This is someone who is under multiple charges, under an FBI investigation, trying to overturn a presidential election,” he said. “So Ken Paxton should mind his own business.”

David Montgomery contributed reporting from Austin, Texas.