Inside the Impeachment: Paxton on Trial — The Verdict

Read more about the impeachment: https://thetexan.news/paxton_impeachment/Today, the Senate voted on the 16 impeachment charges leveled against Attorney General Ken Paxton in an effort to convict and remove him from office by the Texas House.Here’s a recap:Paxton was acquitted on all 16 articles of impeachment by the Texas Senate. The House Board of Managers needed to convince 21 senators to sustain at least one of the charges. Most of the charges were dismissed by a vote of 14 to 16.After the votes were taken, Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) made a motion to dismiss the four articles of impeachment that were held in abeyance and not considered during the trial. The motion passed.Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has been largely silent since the House impeached Paxton in May, took to the microphone after the vote and lambasted the Texas House for pursuing impeachment. “Millions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted on this impeachment. 31 Senators and a large Senate staff that made this trial possible have put their family life, jobs, and businesses on hold for 3 months after being here already from January to June,” said Patrick.Patrick announced that he would be conducting an audit to determine “all taxpayer money spent by the House from the beginning of their investigation in March to today.”Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) released a statement, “Over the last two weeks, the Texas House Board of Managers provided the Texas Senate and the people of Texas extensive evidence of Ken Paxton’s corruption, deception and self-dealing. It is extremely unfortunate that after hearing and evaluating this evidence, the Texas Senate chose not to remove him from office."In a press conference after the proceedings, Rep. Andrew Murr (R-Junction), chairman of the House Board of Managers, was asked if in hindsight he would change the approach the House took in the trial. “I would not do anything differently,” said Murr.Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement commending the trial’s proceedings and the jury’s verdict, and said he looked forward to working with Paxton again in his role as attorney general.