AUSTIN, Texas (AP) \u2014 The historic impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was just the first round of a Republican brawl over whether to banish one of their own in America\u2019s biggest red state after years of criminal accusations.
Paxton and his allies, from former President Donald Trump to hard-right grassroots organizations across Texas, now wait to fight back in what Paxton hopes will be a friendlier arena: a trial in the state Senate.
It was still unclear Sunday when this will take place. The Republican-led Senate met to pass bills in the final days of the legislative session. But the chamber\u2019s presiding officer, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, did not immediately address the Paxton impeachment.
Paxton has said he has \u201cfull confidence\u201d as he awaits a Senate trial. His conservative allies there include his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, who has not said whether she will recuse herself from the proceedings to determine whether her husband will be permanently removed from office.
For now, Texas\u2019 three-term attorney general is immediately suspended after the state House of Representatives on Saturday impeached Paxton on 20 articles that included bribery and abuse of public trust.
The decisive 121-23 vote amounted to a clear rebuke from the GOP-controlled chamber after nearly a decade of Republican lawmakers taking a mostly muted stance on Paxton\u2019s alleged misdeeds, which include felony securities fraud charges from 2015 and an ongoing FBI investigation into corruption accusations.
\u201cNo one person should be above the law, least not the top law officer of the state of Texas,\u201d said Republican state Rep. David Spiller, who was part of a House investigative committee that this week revealed it had quietly been looking into Paxton for months.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has remained silent about Paxton all week , including after Saturday\u2019s impeachment. Abbott, who was the state\u2019s attorney general prior to Paxton\u2019s taking the job in 2015, has the power to appoint a temporary replacement pending the outcome in the Senate trial.
Final removal of Paxton would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate, where Republican members are generally aligned with the party\u2019s hard right. Patrick, the presiding officer, has served as state chairman for Trump\u2019s campaigns in Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n