The Attorney General of Texas, who has been criticized for various unsavoury allegations such as bribery and abuse of power, is in danger of being impeached for spending huge amounts of taxpayer money while agreeing to a lawsuit with employees who accused him of corruption.
The Republican-majority House of Representatives of Texas passed the impeachment bill of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on the 27th, the Associated Press and Reuters reported. Attorney General Paxton also belongs to the Republican Party, but as several lawmakers from the same party turned their backs, the House vote passed with an overwhelming majority of 121 votes to 23 votes against.
Accordingly, Attorney General Paxton is suspended from his duties pending a decision by the State Senate. Previously, the House committee launched an investigation into him on the 23rd and announced 20 articles of impeachment on the 25th, speeding up the impeachment process. Attorney General Paxton has been plagued by various scandals for a long time, such as being indicted for violating the Securities Act in 2014 and for securities fraud in 2015, respectively.
It has to do with exposing allegations of abuse. At the time, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was investigating Paxton’s alleged collusion with Nate Paul, a Texas real estate developer who provided political funds to Paxton. accused of doing They later retaliated, including being fired, and suing Paxton under the Texas Whistle-blower Protection Act. Faced with a disadvantage, Paxton agreed to pay 3.3 million dollars (approximately 4.38 billion won) in compensation instead of finalizing the lawsuit in February this year.
He then asked the legislature for approval to use state funds to pay the compensation. “If Paxton hadn’t asked for taxpayer funds as a settlement for his misconduct, he would not have faced impeachment,” said a member of the House committee that pushed for the impeachment. “Attorney General Paxton has consistently and blatantly violated laws, rules, policies and procedures,” said Congressman David Spiller before the vote.
In the meantime, Attorney General Paxton, along with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, has been at the forefront of attacking President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party government, and has been supported by Republican hardliners. Former President Donald Trump expressed his support for him by posting a post on social media that day, “Free Ken Paxton.”