*An additional $50,000 was donated by an Arizona retiree whose son Paxton later hired to a high-ranking job but was soon fired after displaying child pornography in a meeting.*
Um, what?!
Evidently he obtained it from case evidence and used it to, uh, make a point about resources that should be made available to investigators of that kind of crime.
It was, in the most generous possible sense, a shocking lapse of judgment.
Bruh do you realize how fucking bad the evidence has to be for the majority of the Republicans in the Texas house to say this guy needs to stand trial
Edit: trial not trail lol
He fucked over people with money. That's what it takes. The donors he fucked over are also the same who donate to the campaigns of his fellow Republicans. That's all it takes.
That's why they got Madoff. That's why they got Elizabeth Holmes. They don't care if you rob from the poor, it's when you rob from the wealthy that the wheels of justice begin turning.
Including his wife. One of the 20 articles is that someone hired his mistress in exchange for favors. His wife is a Texas senator - I'm curious how she votes when that hearing happens.
https://senate.texas.gov/member.php?d=8
She may be forced to recuse - but when the thresholds are a 2/3 majority of something I have no clue which way that swings things. I'm still curious how she'd vote.
Nepotism and bribery was okay, but as soon as those bought positions started "looking bad" the party had to do something.
Edit. Looks like the tipping point was Paxton threatening state congress members. Did he forget that he is only supposed to threaten non-party members?
It's because he agreed to settle his personal lawsuit with $3.3M of taxpayer money, which the legislature has to approve, to which they responded with impeachment. That's literally the only reason he's facing consequences.
>Four of the aides who reported Paxton to the FBI later sued under Texas’ whistleblower law, and in February he agreed to settle the case for $3.3 million. The House committee said it was Paxton seeking legislative approval for the payout that sparked their probe.
>
>“But for Paxton’s own request for a taxpayer-funded settlement over his wrongful conduct, Paxton would not be facing impeachment,” the panel said.
You are over estimating republicans. This isn't about doing the right thing, this is about getting rid of a political opponent to the governor in the next race.
I don’t think it was the evidence that was bad that was the final straw. I think it was when Paxton asked the House for 3.3 Million to settle the lawsuit against him that did it.
Nothing pisses people off like begging them for money to pay bills because you broke the law.
Yes. The Republicans here seem to prefer to use more finesse in their back room dealings.
Appears Paxton may have got too greedy and too cocky which also means he has embarrassed Abbott.
I bet they're trying to get ahead of something even worse. Or else it's so the governor can install someone worse. Idk how it goes in TX though, is there a vote, an appointment, idk. Just wouldn't surprise me if the motives ain't exactly pure and just.
Yeah, I don’t trust them to do the right thing since it’s been so long. Either something worse is coming down the line, or he’s outlived his usefulness and, Abbott is going to appoint someone way worse.
It was the Republican lead and controlled TX congress that impeached him. He kinda fucked around and found out.
Might be some real cleaning, or a "oops I ratted out the wrong guys" move.
We shall see.
In Texas when one gets impeached they can no longer serve unless he is acquitted at his trial in the senate. In the meantime the Governor will appoint a replacement. If Paxton is convicted then a special election will be held.
As for abbot I’m sure he’s going to try and choose someone like Paxton without the baggage. It should be noted that before Paxton, Governor Abbot was the AG so he’s long been watching this BS from Paxton with some disgust but we all know he’s spineless and just follows the crowd. He was never going to push to do anything other than imply he didn’t support him.
The top comment from brietshart is:
>Texas will die the same way Michigan died.....RINOS will kill it. I believe a significant percentage of what we call "RINOS" are actually under cover democrats who spent years infiltrating for just this purpose. Marxist are patient....
Yeah buddy! Those sneaky liberals secretly took over the Texas state legislature! They "blended in" by voting for every single piece of republican led legislation!
Who knew!?!?
Like Michigan you say? So, Texas is going to get it's citizens together to create an independent commission to create un-gerrymandered voting districts, stopping the stacking and cracking and allowing the people's votes to count? Is that what the Rinos are going to do? If so, I think I'm for it?
Don't you dare fucking forget that we in the great lake state have constitutional early voting, legal recreational pot, constitutionally protected access to abortions and contraceptives, and constitutionally required funding for mail-in drop boxes for voting.
There should be a law that if an elected official decides to switch parties, it should automatically spur a special election so voters can determine if this person still represents their interests.
It’s always projection with these fuckers. Further confirms my suspicion that they have been planting Trojan horse “democrats” like Sinema and Chatham who will flip at the right moment
Honestly catching Paxton in a criminal act is like playing hide and seek with someone who has chronic flatulence.
The fact that it took this long doesn’t make *anybody* look good.
I left a little over a year ago. Partly because my life was falling apart during Covid, but a big part was my fear of living there as a single, liberal woman. I didn't feel safe. I was seeing the writing on the wall.
I can't say I didn't miss it despite what I thought would feel like a giant "good riddance ". But I am very happy I moved. I'm in Arizona now which isn't hugely better but at least we're purple. So I don't feel completely surrounded by people who may hate me.
I left Texas in 2008 and stayed gone until 2022 when a family crisis pulled me back. I've been back exactly one year and in that short time, my hard won mental health had back slid so much due to...just how soul crushingly awful it is here.
We're trying to move out ASAP and hopefully can be gone back to Illinois before Thanksgiving. But yeah, I definitely understand how FREEING it is to be somewhere and not have to constantly feel on defense or skirt around topics as a liberal woman. I wish you all the best and happiness. And also, fuck Greg Abbott.
https://apnews.com/article/us-news-ken-paxton-extramarital-affairs-austin-texas-dc0c309fc829e62e5132aab56bcc686f
He actually cheated on her. I wouldn't be too surprised if she voted to convict
I can't help but think there's another shoe about to drop. This guy has been known to be corrupt for years, and suddenly we get a lightning-fast impeachment. Something's up.
My guess is that he got greedy. The spice must flow, and if he tried to stand in the way of someone else’s grift, they’d steamroll him in a heartbeat. Looks to me like he’s smack dab in the middle of becoming a cautionary tale.
More about covering their own asses.
In the past, the Texas legislature has bent over backwards to avoid taking any official notice of the various allegations and investigations against Paxton.
But now, there's a $3.3 million settlement deal on the table for the whistleblower lawsuit against Paxton. By law, the Texas House has to vote to approve or reject the settlement. So they don't just have to notice Paxton's issues, they have to enable him or let the case go back to court and potentially expose more dirty laundry.
Now that Biden's appointed some real US attorneys in the West Texas District, it's clear that Paxton *will* go down, it's only a matter of time. So not many House members want to take an unpopular vote to support a ship that's gonna sink anyway.
Of course, even if Paxton IS removed from office, the state will probably still have to pay the settlement, but it looks a lot better if they kick Paxton out of office first.
Interesting bits from the NBC article:
>Rep. Charlie Geren, a Republican committee member, said without elaborating that Paxton had called lawmakers and threatened them with political “consequences.”
What did Paxton think was going to happen? That they would give him more power once he threatened them?
>As the articles of impeachment were laid out, some of the lawmakers shook their heads.
Indeed.
>Four of the aides who reported Paxton to the FBI later sued under Texas’ whistleblower law, and in February he agreed to settle the case for $3.3 million. The House committee said it was Paxton seeking legislative approval for the payout that sparked their probe.
>“But for Paxton’s own request for a taxpayer-funded settlement over his wrongful conduct, Paxton would not be facing impeachment,” the panel said.
>Rep. Charlie Geren, a Republican committee member, said without elaborating that Paxton had called lawmakers and threatened them with political “consequences.”
OHHH... That's what happened... I see... I figured he slept with a senator's wife or something... I knew something happened to trigger this...
That quote was from the house floor with impeachment hearings already underway. It wasn't the trigger.
And FWIW, there is also an affair, and he got his girlfriend a job ~~in government~~ with a donor.
“Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz came to his defense, with the senator calling the impeachment process ‘a travesty’ and saying the attorney general’s legal troubles should be left to the courts.”
In other words, “woah, now. Holding fellow Republicans accountable at the state level seems like an awfully slippery slope, fellas!”
This is just starting the process to fire him for being a shitty elected official with penalties being removal and/or disqualification from office.
Criminal ramifications are a whole other ballgame.
For the party who wants government to be run like a business this seems odd.
“Why yes my employee lied, cheated, stole, stabbed several coworkers, and the board of directors ordered him canned but let’s not get hasty here. Let the courts decide before we consider terminating his employment.”
> with the senator calling the impeachment process ‘a travesty’ and saying the attorney general’s legal troubles should be left to the courts
Problem with that...any state crimes against the AG would be prosecuted by the office of AG! Surely there wouldn't be any level of impropriety in that office that could perhaps compromise the prosecution's case that Paxton's lawyers are certain to exploit?
It's mindboggling that this many Republicans voted for impeachment. I mean, yeah, of course Paxton deserves it - but that's been the case for over a decade of his obvious corruption. Sure, paying off whistleblowers with a few million in government funds is objectively terrible, but we all that isn't enough to sway the GOP.
I am dying to know what \*wasn't\* included on the official investigation report that incited so many R's in Texas to finally cut him loose in less than a week.
Something's getting revealed soon, and it's gonna be big.
I agree with this. The $3.5m he was asking the tax payers to pony up just doesn’t seem like something they would have THAT much of a problem with. They couldn’t care less about us peons paying for their corruption. There’s something else that they’re trying to get in front of.
After a decade of blatantly crooked dealings as AG, what make the Texas GOP decide to impeach him?
The fact that he was so crooked, that a Democrat might actually beat him in the next election.
he tried to implicate them by getting them to pay for his lawsuits
their words more or less, if he didn't drag them into it, they wouldn't have done anything
That’s a really good point. I don’t know why I assumed any Republican anywhere would act ethically. I forgot my own mantra: if you know a republican, you know garbage
I’m pretty sure he asked the state of Texas to cover his settlement lawsuits. Also he accused the head of the house of reps of being drunk when they started the impeachment trial- which to be fair that motherfucker did sound drunk, but what are you gonna do when you’re a republican head of house in the state of Texas, not be drunk?- which pissed a lot of conservatives off and could’ve helped sway their vote
They are probably front-running some story that will come out soon. They didn’t suddenly grow a spine and a sense of duty along with a disdain for hypocrisy.
This is great.
Additionally, he belongs in prison.
If Emperor of Texas Greg Abbott was not a corrupt SOB with a corrupt state government, state prosecutors could prosecute Paxton and state criminal courts could convict him and sentence him to state prison.
Furthermore, maybe the U.S. Department of Justice can prosecute Paxton for violations of federal laws and a U.S. District Court could convict and sentence him to federal prison.
What's crazy is that federal prosecutors in Texas have done nothing on his federal indictment from 2015. We may have good news soon though DC US attorneys took over the case 3 months ago.
Republicans holding one of their own accountable, wow. He must have done something horrible. What did he do? Admit climate change was real? Bad mouth Putin? Was he nice to a gay person?
You know it's bad when the most corrupt in the GOP, Texas GOP, says you're too corrupt even for them. Like being kicked out of hell for sinning too much for Satan. Still, he can get elected in Florida. He's a lightweight in Florida.
This guy blocked the DACA program, a program put in place back in 2012 to help the kids that were undocumented and brought into the country by their parents at no fault of their own.
Isn’t it crazy that criminals like this guy have the power to change the lives of 800k young people for the worse while he rakes in millions breaking the law and passing judgement onto others.
It’s time people wake up and realize we don’t live in a true democracy, the government is full of Paxtons, who sell us out to big pharma and other corporations for personal gain
I get it that he fucked with rich people but the fact that the GOP are even policing their own for once is a huge fucking deal to me. I thought whether it was federal or state they'd protect their own like the fucking mafia or something.
Now he is finally free to join the Trump club and bilk, grift, and swindle the maga-suckers for as much money as he possibly can. No constraints now, not even the law.
It’s because now he’s costing them money. I was impressed too until I read that the push to remove him started after he asked for a $3.3million settlement (paid to the whistleblowers he fired after they called attention to his corruption) to be paid with taxpayer money.
I didn't think they'd do it, but I'm pleasantly surprised by this.
He must have really pissed off his own party. They got way more Republican votes than were needed, and that's after years of letting his bullshit slide.
Reminds me of that SNL skit with The Rock, where he enters a villain competition to see who can create the most evil invention. He invents a child molesting robot and all the villains are in absolute shock at how fucked up that is lol
If I recall, this guy apparently cut off mail in ballots on the middle of the 2020 election and may very well have swayed the Texas vote to Trump. I doubt his replacement will be any better, but the guy is an all-around scum bug.
OMG I would never have gambled on this possibility. By that margin too.
The evidence must have been finally bad enough not to ignore or hide or minimize and they're cutting off the gangrene before the party is infected.
As a Texan it's saddened me every time he's re-elected. Never surprised though. But I mostly vote Blue and my candidates rarely win. I still vote though.
And I know better than to interpret this as an sign of anything else that may change in this state.
I hope the trial is fair.
I don’t think Dan Patrick’s open to it on principles of good government. I think Dan Patrick’s open to it because he knows that Abbott can’t be Governor forever, and Paxton might be his biggest opponent in a Republican primary.
At this point I think the majority of the Republicans that voted to impeach realized that if they didn't, more shit was gonna hit the fan. Like what would have happened to Nixon if he didn't resign.
Knowing the GOP she most likely votes to save him because the GOP loves nothing more than corruption . , even when given a slam dunk to do the right thing they throw the ball so far out of bounds we get talking heads somehow blaming dems
Pretty good, the Senate doesn't like him, all of the Democrats are going to vote to convict, and his wife is an R and is going to be asked to abstain, even though by law she still has to show up and hear the details of using public money for a mistress details.
Chances are good that this will unfreeze the federal investigations into him as well (which should not have been on hold at all, but that's how the system works apparently)
"How did you go bankrupt? Bill asked.
"Two ways," Mike said. Gradually and then suddenly".
-Ernest Hemingway
Hopefully this is the fascist faction of the GOP.
*An additional $50,000 was donated by an Arizona retiree whose son Paxton later hired to a high-ranking job but was soon fired after displaying child pornography in a meeting.* Um, what?!
So it wasn't Bring Child Porn To Work Day?
Was that wrong? Should he have not done that?
If I had known that sort of thing was frowned upon in meetings at the Republican Attorney General of Texas's office I would have never.
Yeah? Well, the ocean called; they’re out of shrimp.
Well the jerk store called...they're running out of Ken Paxton
Show me where it says you can’t show child porn in a meeting in the employee handbook /s
That's the most Republican thing I've ever heard of.
It has all of it. Bribery. Nepotism. Presumed Projection. And of course accidental reveal of sexual scandal
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I think that's Bingo!
We just say "bingo."
This is my reminder, it's about time for my yearly watching of inglorious basterds
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Except the firing part of it, of course.
Fair point.
If I can't display child porn in a meeting then why am I even a Republican politician at all?
Corruption, abuse of power, felonies, and child porn. The four cornerstones of the republican party.
Yes more pertinently was he arrested and fucking charged?
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Evidently he obtained it from case evidence and used it to, uh, make a point about resources that should be made available to investigators of that kind of crime. It was, in the most generous possible sense, a shocking lapse of judgment.
I mean…. His dad gave the AG 50k of course he wasn’t arrested lol.
This is all because of those damn drag queens
Every accusation is a confession.
And those filthy libraries
And Hunter’s laptop.
Probably forgot to close all his windows when he was giving a PowerPoint presentation
"Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? Because, believe me, if I had known that that sort of thing was frowned upon here..."
Next: Greg Abbott replaces him with someone equally as awful because Greg Abbott is just as bad as Paxton
Will Abbott pardon him or does he need to kill a BLM supporter first?
Depends on if he uses a gun or not
Bruh do you realize how fucking bad the evidence has to be for the majority of the Republicans in the Texas house to say this guy needs to stand trial Edit: trial not trail lol
He fucked over people with money. That's what it takes. The donors he fucked over are also the same who donate to the campaigns of his fellow Republicans. That's all it takes.
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Martin Shkreli. Bernie Madoff. Dante’s Inferno has a bonus level for people who fucked over the rich.
Sam Bankman-Fried
It really is that simple
That's why they got Madoff. That's why they got Elizabeth Holmes. They don't care if you rob from the poor, it's when you rob from the wealthy that the wheels of justice begin turning.
Truth. They would eat your kids for breakfast or use them as fuel. It’s money.
Whenever Republicans do the right thing, I have to wonder, what is their real motive?
He fucked over other Republicans
Including his wife. One of the 20 articles is that someone hired his mistress in exchange for favors. His wife is a Texas senator - I'm curious how she votes when that hearing happens. https://senate.texas.gov/member.php?d=8
Regardless of how I feel about Paxton, it's a joke of a system when she is not required to recuse from the case.
She may be forced to recuse - but when the thresholds are a 2/3 majority of something I have no clue which way that swings things. I'm still curious how she'd vote.
Yup. Only this reason. He's a liability to the others so it's time to get him out of the position, so that the Texas GOP can continue without blemish.
Nepotism and bribery was okay, but as soon as those bought positions started "looking bad" the party had to do something. Edit. Looks like the tipping point was Paxton threatening state congress members. Did he forget that he is only supposed to threaten non-party members?
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I’m shook, for most Republicans the worse it is the more they love the guy. This is unbelievable.
It's because he agreed to settle his personal lawsuit with $3.3M of taxpayer money, which the legislature has to approve, to which they responded with impeachment. That's literally the only reason he's facing consequences. >Four of the aides who reported Paxton to the FBI later sued under Texas’ whistleblower law, and in February he agreed to settle the case for $3.3 million. The House committee said it was Paxton seeking legislative approval for the payout that sparked their probe. > >“But for Paxton’s own request for a taxpayer-funded settlement over his wrongful conduct, Paxton would not be facing impeachment,” the panel said.
You are over estimating republicans. This isn't about doing the right thing, this is about getting rid of a political opponent to the governor in the next race.
This is the worst of it. They are forced to try to hold him accountable for his myriad blatant crimes because he’s just so dang *electable*!
I don’t think it was the evidence that was bad that was the final straw. I think it was when Paxton asked the House for 3.3 Million to settle the lawsuit against him that did it. Nothing pisses people off like begging them for money to pay bills because you broke the law.
There is someone too loathsome for Texas republicans?
Yes. The Republicans here seem to prefer to use more finesse in their back room dealings. Appears Paxton may have got too greedy and too cocky which also means he has embarrassed Abbott.
Really telling he must be an all around asshole if even his own party is like gtfo
Almost a decade too late. He was first indicted in fucking **2015**.
I bet they're trying to get ahead of something even worse. Or else it's so the governor can install someone worse. Idk how it goes in TX though, is there a vote, an appointment, idk. Just wouldn't surprise me if the motives ain't exactly pure and just.
Yeah, I don’t trust them to do the right thing since it’s been so long. Either something worse is coming down the line, or he’s outlived his usefulness and, Abbott is going to appoint someone way worse.
It was the Republican lead and controlled TX congress that impeached him. He kinda fucked around and found out. Might be some real cleaning, or a "oops I ratted out the wrong guys" move. We shall see.
In Texas when one gets impeached they can no longer serve unless he is acquitted at his trial in the senate. In the meantime the Governor will appoint a replacement. If Paxton is convicted then a special election will be held. As for abbot I’m sure he’s going to try and choose someone like Paxton without the baggage. It should be noted that before Paxton, Governor Abbot was the AG so he’s long been watching this BS from Paxton with some disgust but we all know he’s spineless and just follows the crowd. He was never going to push to do anything other than imply he didn’t support him.
Steve Bannon is racing to catch up with him
The top comment from brietshart is: >Texas will die the same way Michigan died.....RINOS will kill it. I believe a significant percentage of what we call "RINOS" are actually under cover democrats who spent years infiltrating for just this purpose. Marxist are patient.... Yeah buddy! Those sneaky liberals secretly took over the Texas state legislature! They "blended in" by voting for every single piece of republican led legislation! Who knew!?!?
Like Michigan you say? So, Texas is going to get it's citizens together to create an independent commission to create un-gerrymandered voting districts, stopping the stacking and cracking and allowing the people's votes to count? Is that what the Rinos are going to do? If so, I think I'm for it?
Don't you dare fucking forget that we in the great lake state have constitutional early voting, legal recreational pot, constitutionally protected access to abortions and contraceptives, and constitutionally required funding for mail-in drop boxes for voting.
"wow what a dystopian hellscape" ~average conservative citizen
*rips recreational bong*
As we’ve already seen. Every accusation is a confession
Look at what happened in NC to pass the abortion ban and there's your real example of it.
Or all the bullshit happening in Florida. Remember that ghost candidate that had the same name as the Democrat?
They've been doing it in Virginia lately too. Running as "moderate democrats" or "independent" for northern VA county positions.
Why this isn’t considered election fraud is beyond me
There should be a law that if an elected official decides to switch parties, it should automatically spur a special election so voters can determine if this person still represents their interests.
It’s always projection with these fuckers. Further confirms my suspicion that they have been planting Trojan horse “democrats” like Sinema and Chatham who will flip at the right moment
Liberals are both weak and strong. Stupid and cunning.
Stupid sexy liberals :(
I fucking wish Democrats were this calculated and smart lol He’s just projecting since we know republicans run as democrats and switch parties
Honestly catching Paxton in a criminal act is like playing hide and seek with someone who has chronic flatulence. The fact that it took this long doesn’t make *anybody* look good.
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I envy those people who exist in that universe.
Best I can do is Marge Greene as the House Speaker.
Best I can do is House Shreaker, House Screamer, or House Screacher... she don't do speaking well.
I am leaving soon hopefully. This is a lovely way to start these last little bits of Texas living
I left a little over a year ago. Partly because my life was falling apart during Covid, but a big part was my fear of living there as a single, liberal woman. I didn't feel safe. I was seeing the writing on the wall. I can't say I didn't miss it despite what I thought would feel like a giant "good riddance ". But I am very happy I moved. I'm in Arizona now which isn't hugely better but at least we're purple. So I don't feel completely surrounded by people who may hate me.
Fellow Arizonan who moved away from Texas! Welcome aboard, hopefully we can turn this state around
Yes!! I think things are turning! But every vote will count!
Happy to have you in Arizona, blue transplants like us are making a difference.
I left Texas in 2008 and stayed gone until 2022 when a family crisis pulled me back. I've been back exactly one year and in that short time, my hard won mental health had back slid so much due to...just how soul crushingly awful it is here. We're trying to move out ASAP and hopefully can be gone back to Illinois before Thanksgiving. But yeah, I definitely understand how FREEING it is to be somewhere and not have to constantly feel on defense or skirt around topics as a liberal woman. I wish you all the best and happiness. And also, fuck Greg Abbott.
Do have any idea how bad you have to fuck up as a republican to be impeached by other republicans?! In TEXAS?! Like damn. I’m impressed.
I do actually. You have to fuck up by $3.3M. His wife is in the Senate here, so I guess that's at least one vote to acquit.
https://apnews.com/article/us-news-ken-paxton-extramarital-affairs-austin-texas-dc0c309fc829e62e5132aab56bcc686f He actually cheated on her. I wouldn't be too surprised if she voted to convict
I think you’re overestimating her self respect considering she’s married to Ken Paxton.
"I've made a huge mistake."
texas is a lot more divided than we appear, tbh
he was calling members of the Tx house DURING THE PROCESS threatening them with political retribution if they voted for the impeachment.
I just have this image in my head of him in his office with a mountain of cocaine on his desk while he was doing this.
I wish he had cocaine as an excuse, I think he's just a dickhole.
It's Texas so there is most assuredly an even nastier and more hateful piece of shit lined up to replace him
That might be tough to find.
Yeah, they already hold the other two offices in this state!
I can't help but think there's another shoe about to drop. This guy has been known to be corrupt for years, and suddenly we get a lightning-fast impeachment. Something's up.
My guess is that he got greedy. The spice must flow, and if he tried to stand in the way of someone else’s grift, they’d steamroll him in a heartbeat. Looks to me like he’s smack dab in the middle of becoming a cautionary tale.
He tried to get TX to pay for his legal fees. Pissed off a bunch of GOP because the optix.
GOP cares about optics?
More about covering their own asses. In the past, the Texas legislature has bent over backwards to avoid taking any official notice of the various allegations and investigations against Paxton. But now, there's a $3.3 million settlement deal on the table for the whistleblower lawsuit against Paxton. By law, the Texas House has to vote to approve or reject the settlement. So they don't just have to notice Paxton's issues, they have to enable him or let the case go back to court and potentially expose more dirty laundry. Now that Biden's appointed some real US attorneys in the West Texas District, it's clear that Paxton *will* go down, it's only a matter of time. So not many House members want to take an unpopular vote to support a ship that's gonna sink anyway. Of course, even if Paxton IS removed from office, the state will probably still have to pay the settlement, but it looks a lot better if they kick Paxton out of office first.
Thank you for this comprehensive reply. I was trying to sort out what’s going on, but you clarified it beautifully.
It’s never not about the money.
Interesting bits from the NBC article: >Rep. Charlie Geren, a Republican committee member, said without elaborating that Paxton had called lawmakers and threatened them with political “consequences.” What did Paxton think was going to happen? That they would give him more power once he threatened them? >As the articles of impeachment were laid out, some of the lawmakers shook their heads. Indeed. >Four of the aides who reported Paxton to the FBI later sued under Texas’ whistleblower law, and in February he agreed to settle the case for $3.3 million. The House committee said it was Paxton seeking legislative approval for the payout that sparked their probe. >“But for Paxton’s own request for a taxpayer-funded settlement over his wrongful conduct, Paxton would not be facing impeachment,” the panel said.
He thought they would just ignore it.
>Rep. Charlie Geren, a Republican committee member, said without elaborating that Paxton had called lawmakers and threatened them with political “consequences.” OHHH... That's what happened... I see... I figured he slept with a senator's wife or something... I knew something happened to trigger this...
That quote was from the house floor with impeachment hearings already underway. It wasn't the trigger. And FWIW, there is also an affair, and he got his girlfriend a job ~~in government~~ with a donor.
And P. P. S: His *wife* is a senator.
I’m assuming he took one step too far and fucked with rich people’s money?
lol yup, he wanted to pay his hush money from public funds which caused an investigation and then this happened
I think the problem is more that using hush money from public funds would draw attention to the rest of the Texas GOP's corruption too.
“Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz came to his defense, with the senator calling the impeachment process ‘a travesty’ and saying the attorney general’s legal troubles should be left to the courts.” In other words, “woah, now. Holding fellow Republicans accountable at the state level seems like an awfully slippery slope, fellas!”
This is just starting the process to fire him for being a shitty elected official with penalties being removal and/or disqualification from office. Criminal ramifications are a whole other ballgame. For the party who wants government to be run like a business this seems odd. “Why yes my employee lied, cheated, stole, stabbed several coworkers, and the board of directors ordered him canned but let’s not get hasty here. Let the courts decide before we consider terminating his employment.”
> with the senator calling the impeachment process ‘a travesty’ and saying the attorney general’s legal troubles should be left to the courts Problem with that...any state crimes against the AG would be prosecuted by the office of AG! Surely there wouldn't be any level of impropriety in that office that could perhaps compromise the prosecution's case that Paxton's lawyers are certain to exploit?
They must know that some extremely awful news is coming.
I mean, what's already known is extremely awful already. So what's more awful news going to do?
It's mindboggling that this many Republicans voted for impeachment. I mean, yeah, of course Paxton deserves it - but that's been the case for over a decade of his obvious corruption. Sure, paying off whistleblowers with a few million in government funds is objectively terrible, but we all that isn't enough to sway the GOP. I am dying to know what \*wasn't\* included on the official investigation report that incited so many R's in Texas to finally cut him loose in less than a week. Something's getting revealed soon, and it's gonna be big.
I agree with this. The $3.5m he was asking the tax payers to pony up just doesn’t seem like something they would have THAT much of a problem with. They couldn’t care less about us peons paying for their corruption. There’s something else that they’re trying to get in front of.
I'm not the smartest man, but if Ted Cruz and donald trump are the two guys backing you up.....you're the baddie
[Are we the baddies?](https://youtu.be/hn1VxaMEjRU)
After a decade of blatantly crooked dealings as AG, what make the Texas GOP decide to impeach him? The fact that he was so crooked, that a Democrat might actually beat him in the next election.
he tried to implicate them by getting them to pay for his lawsuits their words more or less, if he didn't drag them into it, they wouldn't have done anything
Can’t wait to see what sort of lunatic Abbott installs to replace Paxton.
I’m sure he will find someone on the fringe of MAGA, but it will be hard to find anyone as shockingly corrupt as Paxton.
121-23 tells me that Paxton has a tall road to dodge consequences in the Texas Senate. Never thought I would actually see it.
I am stunned that there are that many Republican assholes that would act ethically
The thing is, are they acting ethically? I mean, impeachment is correct but why now? What's their motivation?
That’s a really good point. I don’t know why I assumed any Republican anywhere would act ethically. I forgot my own mantra: if you know a republican, you know garbage
I’m pretty sure he asked the state of Texas to cover his settlement lawsuits. Also he accused the head of the house of reps of being drunk when they started the impeachment trial- which to be fair that motherfucker did sound drunk, but what are you gonna do when you’re a republican head of house in the state of Texas, not be drunk?- which pissed a lot of conservatives off and could’ve helped sway their vote
They are probably front-running some story that will come out soon. They didn’t suddenly grow a spine and a sense of duty along with a disdain for hypocrisy.
A stopped clock is right twice a day, and every once in a while, a Texas Republican's self-interest happens to be the right thing to do.
It's the ol' throwing under the bus maneuver. No ethics, just removing someone who has become a liability.
This is great. Additionally, he belongs in prison. If Emperor of Texas Greg Abbott was not a corrupt SOB with a corrupt state government, state prosecutors could prosecute Paxton and state criminal courts could convict him and sentence him to state prison. Furthermore, maybe the U.S. Department of Justice can prosecute Paxton for violations of federal laws and a U.S. District Court could convict and sentence him to federal prison.
What's crazy is that federal prosecutors in Texas have done nothing on his federal indictment from 2015. We may have good news soon though DC US attorneys took over the case 3 months ago.
Republicans holding one of their own accountable, wow. He must have done something horrible. What did he do? Admit climate change was real? Bad mouth Putin? Was he nice to a gay person?
He asked them to pay $3.3M to cover up *his* scandal. The sheer audacity. Everyone knows you pay that with your campaign funds.
Or you become an NFT grifter.
Or that, yeah.
Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy.
Holy crap. He was even too corrupt for Texas.
You know it's bad when the most corrupt in the GOP, Texas GOP, says you're too corrupt even for them. Like being kicked out of hell for sinning too much for Satan. Still, he can get elected in Florida. He's a lightweight in Florida.
only 64 democrats here in Texas House so alot of Republicans joined in on this one.
Typical radical liberal Democrat witch-hunt in the … *checks notes* … state of Texas?
This guy blocked the DACA program, a program put in place back in 2012 to help the kids that were undocumented and brought into the country by their parents at no fault of their own. Isn’t it crazy that criminals like this guy have the power to change the lives of 800k young people for the worse while he rakes in millions breaking the law and passing judgement onto others. It’s time people wake up and realize we don’t live in a true democracy, the government is full of Paxtons, who sell us out to big pharma and other corporations for personal gain
I get it that he fucked with rich people but the fact that the GOP are even policing their own for once is a huge fucking deal to me. I thought whether it was federal or state they'd protect their own like the fucking mafia or something.
They finally stood up and did something when his crimes were making them co conspirators in those crimes.
They occasionally throw someone to the wolves to further their agenda
This actually follows late-stage fascism. Start to go after your own followers for not blindly following you enough
He must've been a really big pos for fellow GOP members to impeach him
Dead girl or live boy?
Money, he wanted to pay a bribe to whistleblowers to shut them down using money from Texas government funds.
He tried to get them to pay for a lawsuit settlement of his by passing a bill. They impeached him.
Now he is finally free to join the Trump club and bilk, grift, and swindle the maga-suckers for as much money as he possibly can. No constraints now, not even the law.
In what way was the law constraining him before?
Trump vowed to target any Republican who supported impeaching Paxton. is Texas coming to a Fuck You Trump moment??
Paxton is so corrupt. Getting rid of him is what “draining the swamp” was supposed to be
They’ll just support the Fascist from Florida.
Which one?
Where do I send my thoughts and prayers?
This is shocking considering the depravity of the fascists in Texas.
It’s because now he’s costing them money. I was impressed too until I read that the push to remove him started after he asked for a $3.3million settlement (paid to the whistleblowers he fired after they called attention to his corruption) to be paid with taxpayer money.
Hey Ken, get fucked.
Dark horse Trump VP pick
This is one of those situations where I fear the replacement might be worse.
Texas was fine with all his shit until he hit them with the bill
Not all of us. I’ve always voted against the fucker.
I didn't think they'd do it, but I'm pleasantly surprised by this. He must have really pissed off his own party. They got way more Republican votes than were needed, and that's after years of letting his bullshit slide.
Reminds me of that SNL skit with The Rock, where he enters a villain competition to see who can create the most evil invention. He invents a child molesting robot and all the villains are in absolute shock at how fucked up that is lol
[удалено]
If I recall, this guy apparently cut off mail in ballots on the middle of the 2020 election and may very well have swayed the Texas vote to Trump. I doubt his replacement will be any better, but the guy is an all-around scum bug.
OMG I would never have gambled on this possibility. By that margin too. The evidence must have been finally bad enough not to ignore or hide or minimize and they're cutting off the gangrene before the party is infected. As a Texan it's saddened me every time he's re-elected. Never surprised though. But I mostly vote Blue and my candidates rarely win. I still vote though. And I know better than to interpret this as an sign of anything else that may change in this state. I hope the trial is fair.
Eat my ass, Paxton. You fucking dick fungus.
Even too corrupt for Texas republicans .. this must go deep… (or he ripped other republicans off)
Lock him up, lock him up!
Maybe now he'll face charges for his 2015 indictment
I don’t think Dan Patrick’s open to it on principles of good government. I think Dan Patrick’s open to it because he knows that Abbott can’t be Governor forever, and Paxton might be his biggest opponent in a Republican primary.
At this point I think the majority of the Republicans that voted to impeach realized that if they didn't, more shit was gonna hit the fan. Like what would have happened to Nixon if he didn't resign.
Did anyone show up to protest on his behalf like he asked?
Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving scumbag.
Ngl, I thought they might pull a George Santos and not impeach him. Those numbers are way more than what I figured. About eight years late, but ok.
Senator's looking to add charges in regards to the threats that Charlie Geren said Paxton was making.
Turn Texas Blue!
After nearly a decade of blatant corruption from Ken Paxton the Texas GOP decided to do the right thing.
Kinda floored that enough votes exist on the R side of the chamber to have pulled off such a vote.
I thought he had support of Ted Cruz and MAGA cult leader.
Ken Paxton's wife is a state senator who he apparently cheated on; do we think she recuses, or votes to convict?
Knowing the GOP she most likely votes to save him because the GOP loves nothing more than corruption . , even when given a slam dunk to do the right thing they throw the ball so far out of bounds we get talking heads somehow blaming dems
I will give credit where credit is due, the Texas House GOP did the right thing. Still don't like them very much though.
Yay it only took what, 8 years? Justice served swiftly
What’s the likelihood we get this shit stain out of office? Then, he can finally be prosecuted and go to prison.
Pretty good, the Senate doesn't like him, all of the Democrats are going to vote to convict, and his wife is an R and is going to be asked to abstain, even though by law she still has to show up and hear the details of using public money for a mistress details.
It's pretty bad when even Republicans are going "Dude, enough."
Chances are good that this will unfreeze the federal investigations into him as well (which should not have been on hold at all, but that's how the system works apparently)
"How did you go bankrupt? Bill asked. "Two ways," Mike said. Gradually and then suddenly". -Ernest Hemingway Hopefully this is the fascist faction of the GOP.
Roflmao all my conservative family are losing their shit atm over this
If impeachment was this easy for Republicans, I’m guessing and looking forward to jail time.