First appeared in NewsBreak
By Aron Solomon
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is facing an impeachment trial in Texas. Here are the legal issues central to the Paxton case, the only time in Texas history an AG has faxed an impeachment trial.
Bribery:
Paxton is accused of accepting bribes from a wealthy donor in exchange for using his office to help the donor’s business interests.
Obstruction of justice:
Paxton is accused of using his office to interfere with an investigation into the donor’s business dealings. While obstruction of justice was described by the New York Times as an “often murky crime,” Attorney Richard DiTomaso describes it as “A serious crime in which someone corruptly attempts to influence, obstruct or impede the due and proper administration of the law.”
Abuse of office:
Paxton is accused of using his office to benefit himself and his associates, including hiring unqualified staff and retaliating against whistleblowers.
Dereliction of duty:
Paxton is accused of failing to fulfill his responsibilities as attorney general, including refusing to represent state agencies in legal matters.
Disregard of official duty:
Paxton is accused of failing to uphold the law and the Constitution of Texas.
The articles of impeachment against Paxton include 16 charges, which do not include four accusations originally adopted by the House. On Tuesday, the impeachment trial began in blockbuster fashion, with the Texas House of Representatives approving 20 articles of impeachment against him, including obstruction of justice, conspiracy, abuse of office, and bribery. In a 24-6 vote, Texas senators refused to dismiss all 16 articles of impeachment against Paxton, clearing the way for the trial to proceed.
The process for impeaching a Texas Attorney General is as follows:
1. The Texas House of Representatives must vote to adopt articles of impeachment against the Attorney General.
2. If the articles of impeachment are adopted, the Attorney General is suspended from office and a trial is held in the Texas Senate.
3. The trial is presided over by the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, who acts as the judge.
4. The Senate acts as the jury, and designated House members present their case as impeachment managers.
5. If two-thirds of the Senate votes to convict the Attorney General, they are removed from office.
Paxton pleaded not guilty to all impeachment articles and left before the afternoon proceedings.
As an interesting aside, despite his role as Texas’ lead attorney, Paxton has denied representation to state agencies at least 75 times in the past two years.
About Aron Solomon
A Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer, Aron Solomon, JD, is the Chief Legal Analyst for Esquire Digital and the Editor-in-Chief for Today’s Esquire. He has taught entrepreneurship at McGill University and the University of Pennsylvania, and was elected to Fastcase 50, recognizing the top 50 legal innovators in the world. Aron has been featured in Forbes, CBS News, CNBC, USA Today, ESPN, TechCrunch, The Hill, BuzzFeed, Fortune, Venture Beat, The Independent, Fortune China, Yahoo!, ABA Journal, Law.com, The Boston Globe, YouTube, NewsBreak, and many other leading publications.
