Texas GOP Lawmaker Levels Devastating Accusations Against AG Paxton to Begin Impeachment Trial

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) historic impeachment trial began on Tuesday, with Republican state legislators making the case against him in opening arguments.

“AG Paxton faces 20 articles of impeachment, including bribery, dereliction of duty and abuse of the public trust. Paxton, a Republican Party fixture who’s been in office since 2015, has denied any and all wrongdoing, calling the allegations against him, which came from an overwhelmingly Republican-led legislature, quote, ‘politically motivated,’” Katy Tur noted on her MSNBC show.

“Now, Paxton’s allies are threatening political retribution to any state senator who votes for his removal. Joining us now from Austin is NBC News senior reporter Jane Tim,” Tur added.

“Yeah. You know, the articles of impeachment all surround his relationship with a developer and donor who the House impeachment managers say he accepted bribes from in the form of a renovation to his home and a job for a woman he was having an affair with in exchange for favorable legal assistance, an office or access to the office of the attorney general. Let’s take a little let’s listen to some sound from one of the Republican House impeachment managers said about these allegations,” Tim said before rolling a clip from the proceedings.

“The oath of office that we all took to protect the citizens of state and to uphold the laws of this state and this constitution means something. It isn’t just words on paper. It’s literally an oath to God. And Mr. Paxton had an obligation not to abuse his office for his own benefit. He betrayed his constituents and the sacred public trust that’s been given him. And in Texas, we require more from our public officials than to merely avoid being a criminal,” said State Rep. Andrew Murr (R-TX) in the clip.

Murr, who helped lead the charge to impeach Paxton in the Texas House, offered a scathing indictment of the AG during his opening statement, which also went viral online.

“The House uncovered egregious misconduct and abuse of office by the attorney general of the state of Texas and voted overwhelmingly to prefer articles of impeachment to the Senate. This is why we are here,” Murr said during his opening, adding:

The allegations in the articles reveal that the state’s top lawyer engaged in conduct designed to advance the economic interests and legal positions of a friend and donor to the detriment of innocent Texans. Mr. Paxton turned the keys of the Office of Attorney General over to Nate Paul so that Mr. Paul could use the awesome power of the people’s law firm to punish and harass perceived enemies.

Paxton’s trial in the Texas Senate is expected to go on for weeks and will require a two-thirds vote to remove him from office.

Watch the clips above.

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