Attorney General Ken Paxton Credit: credit: texasattorneygeneral.gov

It happened – the five members of the House Special Investigating Committee recommended unanimously late Thursday that Attorney General Ken Paxton face impeachment by the full House. If a majority of the House agrees, Paxton will face a trial in the Senate.

The vote came one day after a remarkable hearing on the morning of May 24 in which investigators offered evidence that Paxton has broken the law and committed misconduct multiple times over his nine years in office. The committee presented evidence that, among other things, Paxton had accepted bribes from Austin developer Nate Paul and undermined an FBI investigation.

Paxton has responded to the investigation by calling for House Speaker Dade Phelan to resign, saying, “Every allegation is easily disproved” and referring to the House investigators, inaccurately, as “highly partisan Democrat lawyers.” Just minutes before the committee’s impeachment decision, a Paxton aide demanded to testify before the committee and decried their investigation as “illegal,” the Texas Tribune reports.

Paxton’s trial in the Senate would not need to happen before the end of the legislative session Monday, May 29 – the Senate can call themselves into special session to conduct the trial.

Read our previous reporting on the scandals surrounding Paxton.

This article appears in May 26 • 2023 and Guide to Summer.

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Brant Bingamon arrived in Austin in 1981 to attend UT and immediately became fascinated by the city's music scene. He's spent his adult life playing in bands and began writing for the Chronicle in 2019, covering criminal justice, the death penalty, and public school issues. He has two children, Noah and Eryl, and lives with his partner Adrienne on the Eastside.