Texas state senate bans Ken Paxton’s wife from voting on impeachment
Background: Mr. Paxton faces a public trial by lawmakers.
The Republican-dominated State House approved it 20 articles of impeachment to Mr Paxton last month, accusing him of using his position as Attorney General to help himself and a campaign donor.
One of the allegations is that Mr. Paxton instructed employees in his office to intervene in lawsuits on behalf of the donor, an Austin real estate developer, Nate Paul, and that he accepted bribes from Mr. Paul. Mr Paxton, who has been suspended pending trial, has denied any allegations.
The impeachment has divided Republicans in Texas. A poll released this week by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas found that 31 percent of Republicans surveyed thought the impeachment was warranted, while 30 percent said it was not. (The rest had no opinion.)
Some supporters of Mr. Paxton, who as attorney general promoted national-conservative causes and gained the support of former President Donald J. Trump, urged the Senate to limit proceedings in the impeachment trial and provide a way to sweep the whole thing off the table. out.
The 29 pages of rules passed late Wednesday by a vote of 25 to 3, outline a process much like that in a courtroom, including pretrial motions that could result in the overturning of some articles of impeachment and a public trial that will begin with Mr. Paxton holding a plea of guilty or not guilty. Each side is given a total of 24 hours to present their case, a chance to question witnesses and extra time for opening and closing arguments.
Why it matters: Accusations are rare in Texas.
The Republican-dominated Senate will decide the fate of Mr. Paxton, a Republican and the first state official to be impeached in more than a century.
Whether Ms Paxton should be allowed to participate in the trial has been a central question. The Senate decided not to let her vote on sentencing — or any other issue raised during the trial — but she can sit, and that does have an impact. A conviction requires a two-thirds majority of members present — 21 votes from the 31 senators — and the rules explicitly say that Ms. Paxton must be counted as present, which would have the same effect as her no vote.
Ms. Paxton is not the only senator with a potential conflict of interest. Senator Bryan Hughes has represented Mr. Paxton as his personal attorney in court and is indirectly named in one of the articles of impeachment, meaning he can be called as a witness. So did another senator, who at one point employed a woman with whom Mr. Paxton had an extramarital affair and whom Mr. Paul later hired, according to the impeachment articles.
The rules address this unusual situation, allowing a “member of the court” to be called as a witness and saying that such a senator is still allowed to vote.
At the end of the process, the senators vote individually on each article of impeachment. Conviction of any of them would remove Mr Paxton from office for the remainder of his current term. If convicted, the Senate could also vote to bar him from holding public office in Texas in the future.